


And You Saved Me, Maybe

by Bfly1225



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book one Zuko, Its a zuko fic so..........u know, Past Child Abuse, Yue has Character, Zuko joins early, Zuko joins the gaang and they teach him what real friendship and love is, iroh is a sweet sweet man, toph swears like a lot, zuko tries to pull an azula and it backfires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 60,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24329704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bfly1225/pseuds/Bfly1225
Summary: Zuko is getting nowhere with his approach to hunting the Avatar- Every single time he thinks he has that slipperly little kid, he gets away somehow. He needs a new approach.This new approach. . . Well, it wasn't supposed to involve cuddle piles, good jokes, friendly travels, helping people, seeing the fire nation's true impact. . . Zuko might have to change the plan a bit more than originally intended.
Relationships: The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), i'll figure it out later - Relationship, oh who knows tbh
Comments: 1065
Kudos: 2079





	1. Roll With The Punches

Zuko punched the banister. Hard. Flame billowed from under his fist, and dispersed quickly, leaving hot steel and scorch marks. 

“Follow them!” He barked to nobody in particular, knowing that the crew would pick it up and follow the flying bison that was speeding through the sky now, fur singed on its sides, two water tribe savages and the Avatar on its back. 

“Prince Zuko,” Uncle sighed behind him. “We have played this game before. And it is not fun, like pai sho. You know you will never catch the Avatar like this.” He walked up, and Zuko could see the figure of the old man, could feel that concerned look. 

Zuko _hated_ that look. He hated when people looked at him, looked at the scar. It was always at the scar, never in his eyes. There was a reason there wasn’t a mirror in his quarters. 

But. . . Uncle Iroh was right. They had done this every time. He’d get so close, but the Avatar would evade him every single time and the cycle would start anew. So how did he break the cycle?

“. . . Then how do I catch him?” He asked, his voice rasping against the whisper that contradicted his usual shout. 

“I do not know, nephew.” Iroh settled a weathered hand near Zuko’s- not quite touching, he knew it might drive Zuko away- and stared at the horizon where the bison had already disappeared from. “I do not know.” 

\-------------------------------------------

“Hey, I think you dropped this,” Aang showed an arrow to masked archers who chased after him. And now, all he could think was. . . 

Why the heck did he do that?! 

Now he was all chained up in a fire nation prison, heavily guarded. It was hot, in this metal room, with the two fires up at the top of the pillars. Aang vaguely wondered if he blew at them enough if he could get them to go out so it might not be so hot and the frogs. . . Well, that thought was gone, dismissed, irrelevant, as the first frog wiggled out of his tunic and towards the door. Its croaks echoed in the room, and when shouting at them proved fruitless, Aang hung his head. Great. When he got out ( _if he got out_ ), he’d have to go get more gosh darn frogs in the swamp. And that water was _gross_! 

They were painfully slow- still frozen in chunks. One’s entire back half was cold, and it dragged itself across the floor with weak front arms. Aang stared at them, hoping that they’d be alright. Now that they weren’t frozen- or, at least, partially not frozen- Aang might as well cheer for them. He had been planning on releasing them again, anyways, and if he couldn’t escape this place ( _he would, he had to_ ) then the frogs might as well. No need to drag anybody down with him ( _but he had, he’d failed the world a hundred years ago and he’s failing them now and now Katara and Sokka won’t get better it’ll take days if not week for the fevers to break, weeks locked in this prison, would they even come for them? They should have stayed in the village this was his fault what if the fire nation finds them while they’re sick oh god Katara can’t waterbend in that state-_ )

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko was impressed at just how poorly that idiot Zhao guarded his esteemed prisoner. Though, he supposed with a wry smile, that he’d made the same exact mistake the first time. 

Even so, all it took was riding in under the wagon, climbing the walls, crawling through the drainage pipes, and knocking out four guards (with two from the ceiling- he had to take a moment and appreciate his execution there. If you aren’t a master bender, you may as well be an excellent strategist!) to get to the Avatar. 

The Avatar gasped when Zuko walked in, hidden behind the blue spirit mask. He was glad he didn’t have to say anything- coming up with intelligent things to say as greeting was work. Instead, he grabbed his swords and cut the Avatar free. Zuko didn’t understand why he’d seemed so scared- as if Zuko was about to execute him. There was no way Aang could recognize him as a threat- as fire nation. He was wearing a BLUE mask and all black behind that. Obviously he looked like what the Avatar would inherently see as “the good guys,” didn’t he? And Obviously he was here to _rescue_ the Avatar, so why did he scream?? More guards could be on the way! 

And he almost voiced this, too, but realized that with his accent and all, there was no way he could be anonymous if he spoke aloud. 

So instead, he walked away. 

“Who are you?” _Zuko. Your enemy._ “What’s going on? Are you here to rescue me?” _Um. . . duh????_ the Avatar asked very dumb questions for somebody who’d just had his ankles and wrists freed. Zuko rolled his eyes under the mask, not that the young Avatar could see it. He jerked open the door and motioned for the child ( _And that’s all the Avatar was, a child who kept getting captured._ ) to follow. 

“. . . I’ll. . . Take that as a yes.” And the Avatar followed. 

Getting out was. . . less easy. It was smooth at first, but he had to assume the Avatar was spotted in his bright yellow and red clothing, because the alarm sounded as they began climbing the first wall. The rope was cut. _Damn._ Plan B, then. 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko’s last memory was getting knocked out. Obviously. He felt dumb for recounting that when he saw the forest about him hazily. 

“You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is?” the Avatar asked, knees curled to his chest on the root of a tree. Zuko could feel leaves beneath him. They weren’t a great comfort, but. . . Zuko could tell there had been an effort. “I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to _always_ visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we’d get in and out of so much trouble together.” The Avatar tilted his head wistfully. “He was one of the best friends I ever had. And he was from the fire nation.” The Avatar looked at Zuko, who had just realized he’d been discovered. “Just like you. If we knew each other back then. . . do you think we could have been friends too?” 

Zuko thought for a moment. His head hurt, a lot. 

. . . His opportunity! 

“I think so.” He rasped. 

Aang’s eyes widened. “You. . . think so?” 

“Yeah. You seem like a good kid.” Not entirely false. “I feel bad that I’m being ordered after you.” Entirely false. 

“You do?” Aang’s burrow furrowed. “Then. . . why are you doing it?” 

Zuko paused. It was such an obvious answer, but he needed to look repentful.   
“Orders are orders. I’ve spent my whole life following them. Believe me. If I could leave it all behind, I would.” Zuko closed his eyes. He pretended he was envisioning one of the little ideas Uncle would spout off sometimes- decommission the old warship. Turn her into a mobile teashop. Make a modest living, forget about the fire nation. 

Turn their back on their country. 

In reality, Zuko just didn’t like the light. It hurt his eyeballs. 

“Why can’t you?” The Avatar slid down the roots. He was astonishingly close now. Every instinct that was muddled under the blow to Zuko’s head screamed to summon his fire, which now lay dormant in the pit of his stomach. It woke up slower than he did from being knocked out like that. He wanted to just grab that stupid kid and haul his ass back to Father, and have his father finally _accept_ him. 

“Are you kidding?” Zuko opened his eyes back up and regarded the Avatar with a no-faking-necessary mixture of confusion and slight anger. “You think I can just. . . leave??” 

“Well, why not? You’re all the way out here anyways. Why not just. . . not go back?” Aang shrugged. 

“I. . . well. . .” Zuko frowned. Another lie laced with truth. “Because I have to restore my honor. And I can’t just abandon my country.” _I can’t just abandon my Father._

“Sounds a lot like they abandoned you, though. You don’t wanna hunt me, right?” 

“. . . Right.” 

“Then they don’t have your best interest at heart. The monks told me that if your honor is in the control of other people, then you’ll spend your whole life being afraid they’ll take it from you. You have to have your honor based on doing what you think is right.” The Avatar messed with his sleeves. 

Spirits. This little kid sounded like Uncle. 

“. . . You’re a wise kid.” Zuko blinked. No, really he was surprised. He sat up slowly- he didn’t need the Avatar getting jumpy- and rubbed his head. 

“Well,” the Avatar preened, “I _am_ a hundred twelve years old.” 

One hundred and twelve. _One_ hundred _and_ twelve. Zuko strived not to be, as the crew put it, “that guy” and not correct his way of speaking the way he’d been corrected for years in the palace. 

“So. . . If I was gonna leave, what should I do? I’d have to leave Un- the boat behind. I have nothing out here.” Zuko rolled his shoulders. He was a little stiff. Probably the lack of proper rest. 

The Avatar paused. “Well. . . Sokka wouldn’t like it, but. . .”

“Sokka?” No, really, who was Sokka?

“I need a firebending teacher. And you’re a good firebender. You could come with us!”

Wait. Hold on. What the fuck. 

“Uh-”

“Oh, I get it if you don’t want to.” The Avatar looked downcast. “I mean, we were enemies a bit ago, but you came to rescue me, and-” 

“No! No, I do. A lot.” Zuko answered, too fast. This was his ticket in. “Please.”

“Oh!” The smile reappeared on his face. “Of course! Sokka and Katara- they’re my friends- will take a minute warming up to you, but they’ll love you eventually, I’m sure. I don’t know if I ever really introduced myself but. . . I’m Aang.” The Avatar stuck out his hand.

“I’m Zuko.” He smiled and took the hand. The Avatar tugged on the hand and airbent under Zuko to bring him to his feet- no way the Avatar could have done that with body mass alone- and grinned at Zuko. 

“I’m really looking forward to learning from you, Zuko.”


	2. The Frogsphere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frogs are gathered, frogs are sucked, Zuko is told to get fucked

"So Katara and Sokka have been by my side since you crashed into the village!" Aang explained, grinning as he waterbent a new path through the swamp for Zuko. It had been a plan Aang came up with, and he was pretty proud! Zuko wouldn't get too wet and Aang wouldn't have to wade through gross water to get the frogs. 

"Really?" Zuko rasped, after a while of grunting affirmative answers, and Aang grinned and would have bounced if he hadn't needed to focus on waterbending so much. The water couldn't have too far above Zuko's knees, but it would still ruin his day to get all muddy, so Aang was focusing on avoiding that. 

"Yeah! Of course! I mean, I guess I gave myself up to save their village, but they didn't have to give that all up for me. They're really great friends. You'll love Sokka, he's hilarious."

"I hate to interrupt, but I think we have all the frogs we need." Zuko pointed out, stretching out. Bending over like that was not fun. It was one thing to hold a meditation posture for a half hour, but it was a whole nother thing to be elbows deep in mud looking for frozen frogs for the same amount of time. 

"Cool!" Aang grinned, not pausing the windmill-like movement of his arms that kept the gross water from sloshing back into the nice dry patch he’d made. 

"So. . . Can you bend us back to shore?. . . Please?" Zuko asked, hands full of frozen frogs. 

"Oh! Yeah." Aang began walking, motioning with his arms to start moving the bubble of blessed dryness back to the edge of the swamp. Zuko was oddly quiet, Aang thought- he didn’t really make small talk like Aang could. Aang understood that some people are just like that, but it didn’t really make it all that much easier to get to know Zuko. He wanted very much to bond with the formerly scary firebender. 

“. . . So. . . Is it hard to bend like that? I mean, while moving through the water.” Zuko finally piped up. 

“Oh, not really. I mean, it was at first. I used to have to have Katara help, but now we can both do it by ourselves. It’s hard to walk and shift my weight at the same time, but. . . It’s almost like dancing! See?” Aang exaggerated his movements a little, which made the barriers of the little bubble wobble a bit under the change. 

“Oh! Yeah! I see! You can, uh, stop demonstrating.” Zuko insisted, sounding almost panicked.

“Relax, I won’t let you get wet.” Aang did back off, though. Screwing around like that wouldn’t make him friends. He would’ve kept it going around Sokka, but Sokka wasn’t super tense around him like Zuko was. 

“My arms are covered in mud,” Zuko pointed out, and Aang grimaced. That much was true. 

“Sorry. If I took the water out of the mud it would’ve been harder to dig in.” Aang apologized, stopping moving to let Zuko pass onto the best approximation of solid land that Aang couldn’t do much about. 

“Oh. That’s smart.” Zuko nodded solemnly, adjusting his armful of frogs. Aang stepped onto the land and let the water slosh back into the space-they-had-been. “. . . So what’s your strategy with the frogs?”

“Uh?” Aang looked at the frogs, then back at Zuko, quizzically. Frog strategy? 

“Well, I can’t carry them. I run warm, they’ll thaw out.” Zuko pointed out. “You. . . did saw they needed to be _frozen_ so your friends can suck on them, right?”

“Oh! Yeah. Okay, here!” Aang bent a wobbly sphere of water out of the swamp, dirt particles swirling in the grey sunlight that filtered through the clouds. “Put them in here!” 

Zuko awkwardly pushed the frogs into the water, a couple at a time. Aang stuck his tongue out just a tiny bit in concentration. He needed to keep the frogs from falling out the bottom and keep the water itself from splashing all over the place. . . Okay, he had a rhythm. Now. . . oh spirits, how did Katara say she froze stuff again? Uh, focus on the temperature, and. . . 

“Awwwww yeah!” Aang exclaimed as the sphere crusted over in ice. He pushed the ice inwards until the ice was an inch thick. He grabbed it out of the air. “Check it out, Zuko! It’s frozen!” 

“Yeah, it is.” Zuko nodded. “Good solution. They’ll have to stay frozen like that.”

“Alright! Now, let’s get this frogsphere to my friends!!!!!” Aang exclaimed.

\-------------------------------------------

The Avatar was so exhausting. He just- _talked_ , like silence was evil. Zuko liked silence. 

It looked like he wouldn’t get much of it from the Avatar. 

And speaking of, the Avatar was a skilled strategist. Freezing the frogs with waterbending? That made a lot of sense. He was obviously much smarter than he seemed to let on through conversation. Zuko couldn’t help but ponder how the Avatar had found a way to look young still. One hundred years and not a bit of body decay? There must have been some very advanced technique involved. Probably some version of water bending, if Zuko had to hedge bets. Zuko was beginning to become more scared of the Avatar learning his real plan. If he was a skilled bender, who knew how easily he could sniff out Zuko’s lies? 

And Uncle was left on the ship. He was supposed to be back now, he was sure. Just disappearing for a few days was one thing, but Uncle hadn’t heard from him. If all went right, Uncle would think he was dead and sail out of port, or Uncle would have faith and let the crew believe he was dead. Zuko had no way to send a letter, unless the Avatar had a messenger hawk. Which Zuko doubted. There was one about the ship, though, and it could likely find him easily. Uncle would probably send a message along before he left port- wouldn’t he? 

“Watch your step here- the uh, the rocks are kinda slippery.” The Avatar warned him as he scuttled up the ruins, the ball of ice under his arm. The. . . frogsphere? The Avatar had called it that, right? 

“Why not earthbend them into position?” Zuko asked, eyes cast upon the crumbling stone. The Avatar shot him a puzzled look over his shoulder. Right, right. Any number of Fire Nation bounty hunters or soldiers would be able to get up the rockface easily, then. The Avatar was natively an airbender, so he could get up the rocks easily, therefore granting him an advantage. Smart. And he could fly in his friends on the sky bison. He could learn a lot from the Avatar, Zuko could tell.

“Aang?” Came a female voice as The Avatar crested the edge of the cliff and pushed himself up. It really did sound ill. 

“Hi, Katara. I’m back. And I brought someone with. What’s with all this junk?” 

“Mmnn.” Zuko pulled himself onto the floor of the cave-like structure as the water tribe girl rolled over. She seemed not to want to talk about it. 

Wow, there. . . really _was_ a lot of junk on the floor. And wow, the water tribe kids _were_ really sick. The boy was incoherent. 

He could let the water tribe kids die. Gain the Avatar’s trust, and steer him right into the fire nation of his own free will. A small part of him advocated this plan, twisted joyfully at how simple it would be, how proud his father would be. 

But. . . those were human lives. He never killed, not if he could help it. Terrorize and intimidate, sure, but _kill_? And that would break the Avatar, he knew it- the Avatar prattled on about them constantly, with such a proud smile. He was so attached to them, as weak as it made him. It wouldn’t be an honorable way to bring the Avatar to justice. This wouldn’t be outwitting him, or besting his companions, like the fake friendship was. No, he needed to out bend the girl and beat the boy in melee combat for it to be honorable. And he needed to out think the Avatar. Of course. 

And besides, that was the sort of thing Azula would do. And he wasn’t _like_ Azula. Not at all. 

“Here, suck on these. You’ll feel better.” The Avatar thawed out the ice on the outside of the sphere and grabbed two of the frogs, popping them in the mouths of his friends and flopping on the tail of the massive beast, who made a low noise at the return of his master(? Was that how those relationships worked? He’d only ever read about the sky bison in fire nation texts.). 

“Whosh our new fend, Aang?” The boy managed to get out. The Avatar sat up. 

“You’ll never believe it! It’s Zuko!” 

“Thuko?!” The boy went wide eyed. “Naaaaah.” 

“No, really! He wants to be friends.” 

“Hi. Zuko here.” Zuko gave a self conscious wave. 

“Aang, are you nuts???” The girl shot up, spitting the frog out. “We need to leave, right now.” 

“. . . Why? What’d I miss?” The Avatar frowned. “I didn’t see any soldiers on my-” 

“He’s lying. Sokka, get up, we have to run-”

“No, he isn’t. Calm down.” Aang insisted. “And You didn't finish sucking on the frog, you need to until it thaws.” 

“The hell with the frogs. Aang, I know you want everyone to be friends but he’s been chasing us for weeks!” 

“I was ordered to,” Zuko grumbled defendingly. He already convinced the Avatar, the leader of their group. Why did he have to convince the others? Shouldn’t they trust the Avatar? He was over one hundred years old- far older than them, and far more experienced, so why were they doubting him? 

“Yeah, but you followed that order.” She shot back.

“And you’re fire nathion.” The boy continued sucking on his frog. “No good.” 

“Exactly.” 

“That’s just prejudiced.” Aang frowned. “Kuzon was good!” 

“Kuzon was a hundred years ago, before they started killing people.” 

“Yeah, but all of them can’t be like that!” 

“We know for a fact that he’s like that, Aang! He _crashed a boat_ into our village and burned down another. He’s been trying to kill us this whole time! This _whole_ time!” 

“Katara!” Aang snapped. “He’s not happy with it! He was raised to follow orders, why can’t you just believe he wants to change?”

“Because people don’t just change overnight!” 

“But he wasn’t ever a bloodthirsty villain! Stop treating him like one!” 

Zuko felt like he walked in on something he shouldn’t have. It was. . . very awkward. 

“He is _fire nation_.” 

“Uh. . . didn’t we already cover this?” Zuko spoke up. 

“Shut up, colonizer.” 

Now, that was just rude. 

“Look, he isn’t even attacking us. He used to lash out, now he’s calm. He learned something, guys, I know he did.”

“He’s probably just planning something. He couldn’t beat you outright, so now he’ll just lie to you to get his way.” 

“No!” Zuko lashed out. “I wouldn’t!”

“Thatsh what a liar wod shay,” The boy spoke up. 

“I just want to teach the Avatar firebending! Is that some sort of criminal offence?!” Zuko bristled. 

“It is when you just wanna kill him!” The girl matched his anger. He kicked a vase on the ground, fire flaring at his toe. 

“What is your _problem_?” He asked, shouting now. 

“Guys-”

“ _My_ problem? Really? _You_ set fire to Kyoshi island. _You_ stole my necklace. _You_ are trying to kill the Avatar just because he dares threaten your country’s precious dominance over the world. Firebenders really ARE a bunch of scum.” 

“I’m not trying to kill him, I’m trying to bring him to the Firelord.” 

“Yeah, right, so he can kill him!” 

“That’s none of my business!” 

“It’s EVERYONE’S business!” 

“SHUT UP!” The Avatar yelled, sending a blast of air between them, even though they were already separated. “We won’t get anywhere if we argue like this. Katara, I need a firebending teacher, and Zuko is the only firebender we’ve been able to find that isn’t one hundred percent brainwashed. Zuko. . . you didn’t really start anything? I mean you did do some mean stuff but. . .” The Avatar paused. “Okay. Katara, don’t antagonize Zuko, Zuko, don’t burn anything down anymore. Deal?” He grinned. 

“Deal.” Zuko nodded. He could do that. 

“What?” The girl- Katara- looked at the monk in stark disbelief. “You’re seriously- Aang-”

“Katara, can’t you just trust me on this?”

“Apparently not!” 

“What can I do to gain your trust?” Zuko asked, solemn. This would solve this. 

“You just want to know so you can lie to us more!” 

“No? I want to gain your trust?”

“Gaining our trust doesn’t mean you’re being truthful to us.” 

“I want to gain your trust. . . truthfully?” 

“See Katara? He’s trying.” 

“You’re a shitty liar.” Katara bristled at Zuko. 

“What do you want to hear?!” He yelled again. “Do you want me to bow to you or something? Seriously! You’re nuts!” 

The Avatar made a deeply frustrated noise. “Katara, just give him a chance! If you don’t trust anyone, you’ll never make any friends!”

“I’d rather not have friends then be locked up or dead.” 

“. . . Katara, Aang hash a point.” The boy spoke up. “He really doesh sheem diff’ren.” 

“Seriously? You too?” 

“Thank you.” Zuko bowed his head to the boy with the frog in his mouth. 

“No prolem.” 

“Fine. You know what? I’ll give him a chance.” Katara threw her hands up. “But if you put a toe out of line? I’ll rock your shit, fireboy.” 

“Language,” the Avatar muttered. 

“I’ll be sure to have all of my toes accounted for.” Zuko promised. What was Katara’s deal with toes? 

Katara scowled at him in return. 

“. . . Right, with that accounted for, I had a long night, I’m going to go to sleep.” Aang chirped and went back to the beast’s tail. Zuko went about looking for a soft patch of rock to sleep on. 

He was really drained after all that arguing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here! A much longer chapter! I'm going for quick updates here, people!


	3. Aunt Wu, Who?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko finally learns what it's like to fly, and disassociates through a lot of events.

The evening after Aang and Zuko woke up was tense. Really tense. Even Sokka was keeping his mouth shut as Katara glared at Zuko and Zuko seemed to try really hard to ignore the fact that he was being stared at. And Katara was just about ready to give up on the peace treaty she’d been elbowed into so she could dropkick him.

Look at him, she thought. Sitting over there with his shaved head and dumb little topknot. It wasn’t a good look on him. What was he supposed to do when his hair was down? Just have a little tiny patch of hair floating around his neck??? Fucking nerd. 

They packed up in relative silence. Zuko didn’t know how to help and sort of poked things around from where he was still sitting on the floor. 

If Katara knew less about him, she might have found it funny, or she might’ve invited him over to help. But she knew him. A fire nation killer. Somebody who cares only for his own selfish motives and his nation’s twisted ideals. Just waiting to hurt her little family at the best opportunity. She would have to keep a real close eye on him. He wouldn’t get a moment without her eyes trained on him. 

And even worse than that she couldn’t stand the idea of bringing him into any towns, after he always tore things up. But they’d have to go get supplies at some point, wouldn’t they? Aang and Sokka needed to eat- and so did she. The colonizer could starve. 

She knew logically that Sokka was capable of doing a little hunting and fishing- it got them through between cities that they could safely enter- but it wasn’t like food was the only sort of thing they needed. She needed more thread for her sewing kit, and more soap, and maybe some salt if they had enough coin to do so- it would improve dinners greatly. She missed seal jerky, but they wouldn’t see any of that until they got to the North Pole. Did the sister tribe do seal jerky? They had to, right? 

She double checked the straps on Appa’s saddle, then the straps holding their supplies to the back, and nodded. 

“Alright. I think we can get going, now.” She called to the others. Sokka popped up and grinned. 

“Yeah!!! Movement!” He cheered, climbing into the saddle happily. Aang stretched out and used a gust of air to propel him onto Appa’s head. Zuko. . . sat there, looking confused and awkward. 

“C’mon Zuko!” Aang beckoned to the teenager, who flinched back a little. 

“You mean I-”

“Just get on the bison,” Katara huffed, quiet enough to keep it to herself. 

“What, do you need help?” Sokka taunted. “It’s just a ten ton magic flying beast, thought to be extinct for a hundred years.” 

Zuko muttered something, but Sokka kept talking on. 

“Just stop being a baby, I thought you were some crazy fire nation guy.” 

“I am not crazy!” He snapped in defense. Katara placed a hand on the cap of her waterskin. “I can do it!” 

And he stomped up to the bison and spent a good two minutes struggling to climb the way Sokka had, and Katara had never felt petty vindication as strong as that. 

“I can’t believe this is the bigshot that’s been terrorizing us this whole time.” She remarked as Zuko flopped into the saddle. 

“I did that to boost your egos,” He claimed, not lying very well. Sokka laughed. 

“I didn’t know you had a sense of humor!”

“That wasn’t a joke,” Grumbled the firebender, and he sat up to sit on the other side of the saddle from Sokka and Katara. She was firmly okay with that. 

“Alright, everyone settled?” Aang called over his shoulders. He didn’t wait for an answer before calling out to Appa, who made his usually retort (“bwaaaah”) and took off, a beat of his massive tail, sending the group into the air. 

Zuko, for his credit, didn’t throw up. But he did make a very funny, terrified noise, gripping the sides of the saddle white-knuckled. Katara tried not to laugh, but Sokka instantly burst out in laughter. 

“Stop laughing,” Zuko eventually ground out, sinking a little lower in the saddle so he wouldn’t fall out. “This isn’t funny.” 

“No, it’s _hilarious!_ ” Sokka cackled. 

“It’s a little funny,” Aang supplied.

“Can’t handle a little height, fireboy?” Katara asked, scathing. 

“I can handle it,” He insisted. “I’m just not used to it yet.” He slowly adjusted himself, sitting back up. He seemed to refuse to release the saddle from his iron grip. It had somehow taken this long for Katara to realize Zuko wasn’t even wearing fire nation colors- he was in all black. Without armor. Maybe she’d just been distracted enough by his presence? 

“We can fly lower, if that’s better, Zuko.” Aang tried to be helpful as Appa began heading towards the clouds well and proper. 

“We’ll get spotted if we fly lower, Aang.” Katara pointed out, wearily. 

“Well. . . _maybe_ not. If it makes Zuko feel better-”

“I’m fine,” The firebender bristled, like the idea of having someone feel the need to be accommodating to him was just too much. 

“But you’re sca-”

“I am _not scared._ ” Katara reached for the cap of her waterskin again. The last thing she needed was for Zuko to go nuclear and set Appa on fire. 

“Alright! Fine!” Aang replied, raising an arm in mock surrender. He kept one hand on the reins, as always. “But it can get really weird above cloud level. And cold. Wait, you don’t have a coa, do you?” 

“No. . . ?” Zuko looked over his shoulder at Aang. 

“You’ll get cold! Hey, guys, do you guys think you could lend Zuko a-”

“No?” Zuko was only getting more confused. 

“What do you mean no??” Aang frowned. 

“I’m a firebender.” Zuko replied, as if that made everything make sense. 

“Oh, we’d forgotten.” Katara drawled. Zuko glared back. She smirked. 

“I can make myself warm.” He grumbled, folding his arms. 

“What?? You can make yourself hot???” Aang turned around in full. 

“Well, I wouldn’t make myself _hot,_ that would be ridic-” Zuko turned to face Aang and immediately grabbed the saddle and turned back to face the inside. Apparently, not a fan of seeing the country roll under him. 

Sokka’s laughter lasted far longer into the trip than would have been preferred. 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko hated everything about infiltrating the Avatar’s team. The water tribe children- Sokka and Katara- got on his nerves. Sokka kept trying to make jokes with him and saying things wrong, and Katara. . . she _stared._ And Zuko hated it. Every movement of his was scrutinized. And every time she saw him move too fast, she’d get ready to waterbend at him. _And_ she stayed up all night watching him before finally passing out into what he could tell was a light sleep. 

She was so suspicious, it was ridiculous. 

Well, she was right, of course. The plan was to defeat them all from the inside. But she didn’t have to be so rude about it. And why did she keep calling him fireboy?! ‘

And not to mention flying. Ohh, he _hated_ flying. He almost understood why his ancestors tried their best to kill all of these beasts off. It wasn’t right! The way the ascent left a pit in his stomach and the way he felt like he just might call through the saddle and plummet to the rolling hills below him were disarming, but the way Sokka laughed at him was just belittling. And Katara saw him as _weak_ this way, he knew it. She made snide comments. Just like Azula. 

Zuko wanted to commit arson just thinking about that smirk. Who did she think she was? 

At least they’d landed. Of goddamn course it was near a river, but. . . it was land anyways. Just because the waterbender would be stronger here didn’t make it bad enough to be worse than the air. He didn’t help unload the sky bison. It wasn’t his stuff, after all. He slid to the ground and found a tree to lean against, folding his arms. He didn’t want to even be near the waterbender or her element. 

And her eyes stayed on him the whole time. As the tents were pitched, as a fire was set up (but not lit, yet), as the sky bison had the saddle taken off of him, as the Avatar took the line off the fishing rod and began weaving it- surely, that wasn’t a good idea?-, as Sokka tried to catch the fish. 

“Oh, Aang, thank you.” Katara complimented the Avatar’s work as Sokka waded into the river to try to murder the fish. 

It became apparent that the Avatar had a deep appreciation for Katara. Obviously, the Avatar must be learning something from her. Like an advanced waterbending technique, maybe. Maybe the waterbender had never shown him her whole hand. And maybe she was as old as the Avatar. Who knew? It was a solid possibility, if one went with Zuko’s waterbending-immortality-thing. Maybe she was the one who taught it to him- or maybe _he_ taught _her_ and admired her because she mastered it faster than him? Either way, Zuko decided that he needed to watch the waterbender closer. 

“So, how do I look?”

“You mean, just your neck or all of you? I mean, both look great-” 

“Smoochie smoochie, someone’s in looooo-oove-AGK-” Sokka got smacked in the face. 

Love? Sokka was obviously misreading the situation. There was a deep appreciation for her, sure, but love? 

“Stop teasing him, Sokka.” Katara scolded, and Zuko stopped listening. 

Until he heard the massive footsteps nearby. And then the massive platypusbear roar. He stood instantly as everyone started heading towards the noise as fast as they could. 

“Well, hello there. Nice day, isn’t it?”

He would admit, he was impressed by the old man’s agility as he dodged the bear’s aggressive swipes. 

The Avatar and his companions began shouting advice- none of which were quite the right way to deal with a platybusbear, of course, but they were trying. Zuko got there last, but he charged in as the man ducked and the bear’s paw took a chunk out of a tree. 

Zuko punched at the bear, fire billowing out and scorching the fur. Never properly hitting it, he drove it back. The sky bison landed behind it and opened its mouth, letting out a low and loud noise that scared the bear just enough to make it run away, leaving an egg behind. Zuko resented the fact that the bison had felt the need to steal his glory. 

The man kept smiling. 

“Are you alright?” Zuko asked, looking over at the unphased man as the fire still raged in his veins from the usage. 

“I am.” He beamed. “Thank you for your help, but everything was under control. Not to worry.” 

“Under control? You were two seconds away from getting mauled!” Sokka marvelled as he wandered down and picked up the egg. 

“Yes, but I didn’t. Aunt Wu predicted I would have a safe journey.” The man bowed slightly. 

“Aunt who?” The Avatar asked. Zuko was regulating his breathing. He would really like for the fire to calm down, now. Was this because he hadn’t meditated? At least breathing helped. 

“No, Aunt Wu. The fortuneteller from my village.” Zuko closed his eyes, trying to block out the speaking of the people around him. His heartbeat was in his ears and he was warm. He might have had this before- He wasn’t sure. Had he had this before and Uncle just schooled him out of it? 

Before he knew it, the weird man was walking away, all serene. And the sky opened up. Sudden aggressive rain. 

It felt so, so nice on his skin. He tilted his head up and let out a final, shuddering breath. And he was calm again. 

“What, one fire punch throw you out of wack?” Sokka asked, holding the egg above his head. 

“Apparently.” Zuko replied, grudgingly. It was easier than explaining, but he was still angry. When did the Avatar get that umbrella? 

As they walked to the village, the rain poured. Zuko didn’t really like it- he was soaked through, and his wet hair kept slapping him in the back of the head. It was uncomfortable. He should sneak out and go back to the ship and get changes of clothes if he could. 

Which, right now, was impossible with the waterbender watching his every move like a messenger hawk. 

“Look, I’ll make a prediction right now. _It’s going to continue to drizzle,_ ” Sokka said, seemingly mocking the fortune teller the weird guy had mentioned earlier. The clouds parted. Zuko hummed at the pure irony. 

“Not everyone has the gift, Sokka.” 

Zuko also didn’t love the town. The first thing they saw when they walked in was a weird guy in black robes saying “Aunt Wu is expecting you.”

What is he even meant to say to that?

The waterbender seemed to get excited, and lead the group into the door. 

It smelled like tea and dust in the waiting room. Zuko wasn’t a huge fan. Four cushions sat on the floor, and a young girl was in the hallway that seemed to lead to where ever this Aunt Wu woman did her job. She greeted them, stared at the Avatar- who wouldn’t, he’s the Avatar- and gestured for them to sit down. Zuko wasn’t sure whether to be glad or irked that she pointedly ignored him. Either way, she disappeared down the hallway soon enough after grilling the Avatar, and Sokka began complaining about how fortune telling was nonsense. 

“I can’t help but to be sceptical too.” Zuko piped up. 

“Of course you’d try to ruin something nice, too.” Katara grumbled, folding her arms. There was an awkward silence that Zuko decided to zone out to ignore. He caught foggy glimpses- a lady came out of the door in the back of the room, talked to the younger girl, walked away, Sokka ate. . . something. . . 

And a woman appeared in front of them, old with a mixture of dull black and gray in her hair. A yellow theme to the outfit- uncharacteristic for an Earth Kingdom resident, Zuko marked- way too much makeup, and a generally unthreatening disposition. 

“Welcome, young travelers. Who’s next, don’t be shy!” 

There was another long pause. Zuko drew in a breath, but Katara spoke up first. 

“I guess that’s me, then. Sokka, keep an eye on fireboy.” 

Sokka shrugged in return, and Zuko returned to being as unfocused as possible. The Avatar left, time passed, he came back, then. . . the woman with the waterbender.

“Who’s next? The older woman asked. Zuko stood, and Katara glared. 

“Not him. Not alone.” 

“Dear, relax. I predicted that no harm would come to me today.” The woman waved Katara to her seat. “You, then, young man?”

“Yes.” He replied solemnly. She lead him away, to the door in the back. She let him enter first, and he was tense. She could ambush him from behind. 

She closed the door. 

“Now, young man. There is no need to be so afraid.” She scolded him, and walked past him to the cushion near the firepit. “Come! Sit!” 

He complied. She snagged his hand out of his palm. And she began to spill information, as if she couldn’t control it.

“Your past is that of great pain.” She began. “You have a long journey ahead of you. Your path has changed wildly recently. You will struggle for control over yourself, and over other’s opinions of you. You will learn much in the coming years. Stay close to your friends, they will guide you.” 

“I don’t have friends.” Zuko insisted. The lady looked up from his palm. 

“You don’t. Not yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Aunt Wu out to be a little more "legit" sounding. I also kind of have this headcanon that if you don't meditate and properly calm your fire down after using it outwardly it takes over and gives you almost like heartburn sort of sensation? Anyways, thank you for reading!


	4. A Bit Of A Disagreement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko continues to push everyone away, and meanwhile Aang saves a village.

“The only friend I need is-” 

“Yes, yes, Agni, whose mouthpiece you will become when you regain your honor and claim your birthright. I know, dear.” Aunt Wu patted Zuko’s hand, which she was still holding. 

He yanked his hand back. She sighed. 

“How do you know so much about my past, anyways?” 

“Well, I didn’t gain the sight just today, Prince Zuko.” She stood. “Tea?” 

Zuko sputtered some nonsense about her sounding like his uncle, but she seemed to take that as a yes and grabbed a teapot from a table. 

“You truly have had quite the journey to my home.” She pointed out. “Joining the team of the person you’ve sworn to capture.” 

“Stop doing that,” He growled. 

“Doing what, dear?” 

“ _Knowing_ things about me! And calling me _dear!_ It’s weird.” 

“I can’t simply unknow what I know about you.” She refrained from calling him by name or by dear. 

He remained silent for a moment, and she was rather content with that as she prepared the tea. 

“What other. . . _advice_ do you have for me?” 

“Nothing you’re ready to hear.” 

“What, I need _preparation_ to be told my fortune?” He didn’t wait for her to answer before standing and stomping out of the door. 

He struggled with it a moment before opening it- stupid fucking slide-y earth kingdom made stuff- 

He also tripped over the threshold. But he was _very_ composed while stomping back to the waiting room and throwing himself onto his cushion. 

“. . . So. . . did she ask to send one of us in?” The Avatar asked. Zuko glared. 

The Avatar didn’t ask again. 

\-------------------------------------------

Sokka hated this town almost as much as mister firepants-angryface seemed to. By the way Zuko had stomped back from the old hack-lady, she’d been rude to him too. (Seriously, Sokka was _not_ going to bring himself aggravation!) 

“Welp, now you got to see for yourselves that fortunetelling is just a big, stupid hoax.” Sokka proclaimed as they walked away from the house of nonsense. 

“You’re just mad because you’re going to make yourself unhappy for the rest of your life,” Katara snarked back. Sokka hated it when she _snarked._

“Wu was obviously a hack.” Zuko insisted. 

“See? Fireboy knows what’s up.” Sokka grinned, but apparently the sound of Zuko’s voice was enough to give Katara an Aneurysm of Rage. 

“Stop calling me fireboy.” Zuko bristled. Ope! Time to back off now!

Seriously. It was like trying to tame a rabid isopod dog. Feed it a little, back off before you get bitten. 

The fun banter of trying to tame the rabid fire nation kid was cut off by them walking into the village square, where everyone in this dumbstupid village was just. Staring. At the _sky._ The sky wasn’t even that cool. 

“What’s with the sky?” Katara asked, and Weird Platypus Bear Delusions guy was _thankfully_ (Sokka thought in Sarcasm Italics,) there to explain. 

“We are waiting for Aunt Wu to come out and read the clouds.”

Aang helpfully supplied a very Aang thing to say (Something about peace and fluffy bunnies) and the Weird Platypus Bear Delusions guy replied with a very Weird Platypus Bear Delusions guy thing to say (something about fortune telling and doom).

“Do you even hear yourself?” Asked Sokka, at the Weird Platypu- at the guy.

“The cloud reading will tell us if Mount Makapu will remain dormant for another year or if it will erupt.” A woman pointed at the admittedly volcano-looking mountain in the distance. 

“Really? An old woman will tell you whether your town is destroyed by a natural disaster?” Zuko asked, and Sokka pointed at him agreeingly. Zuko also mumbled something about _so the whole town gets to hear all the advice but apparently_ I’m _not ready,_ which Sokka tried to ignore because it sounded personal. 

“We used to have a tradition of going up the mountain to check the volcano ourselves, but since Aunt Wu moved here twenty years ago, we have a tradition of _not_ doing that.” 

Sokka and Zuko scoffed in perfect unison. 

“I can’t believe you would trust your lives to that crazy old woman’s superstition!” Sokka marvelled, and Katara silenced him because he was apparently “making a scene” which he was _not,_ he was trying to help there villagers because they’d be duped and it was pure luck that the volcano hadn’t erupted yet and killed them all! But Katara also pushed him to the side as the crowd parted.

Here came Madam Spooky-Ooky Predictions herself, a little booky-thingy in hand and the air of an expert con lady about her. She began rattling off made up names for cloud shapes and dispensing probably-lies to people that wanted to hear them and _finally_ decreed that the village was safe!! Yaaaaaay!

Tui and La and all the spirits, Sokka was so done with this town. 

He decided upon something important. 

“Zuko, you’re with me. Somebody needs to scream some sense in these idiots!” Sokka dragged Zuko away from the cheering crowd. This was important. 

\-------------------------------------------

Aang was absolutely determined to get one of those flowers that he saw being given out. He was _going_ to talk to Sokka about it, but this seemed like the easiest way to get Katara to like him back. 

Sure, the trek up the mountain was annoying, and sure it was way too quiet since Sokka was busy bonding with Zuko and Katara couldn’t come because this was a surprise for her, and _sure_ the lava was up to the rim-

_Wait._

Aunt Wu was wrong. 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko was bored of watching Sokka embarrass himself. Well, not really, it was still kind of fun. And it wasn’t Sokka’s fault everyone here was duped, really. 

But he was still almost relieved when the Avatar swooped in on his glider (Zuko really was starting to envy that thing, even if it _did_ relate to heights) and dragged them to go find Katara (pestering the old hack woman) so they could, as a collective, go yell at the citizens who couldn’t give a ratupine’s quills about what they had to say. 

Zuko, who was an expert at ignoring people, almost wanted to take notes. 

Sokka got into another argument (Zuko didn’t laugh), the Avatar climbed on a roof (Zuko tried not to will him to fall), and the crowd dispersed. 

This allowed the Avatar to construct a Plan. Zuko gave it a capital in his head because it was Important. This also got a capital.

This involved him stealing the book Aunt Wu made her predictions out of and making the right symbol in the clouds which, according to Sokka, were water vapor, so the waterbender and avatar could bend the clouds (cloudbending?). This was a boring plan, in Zuko’s opinion. But only because he didn’t get to set fire to anything. And because Katara refused to let him out of her sight unless she knew Sokka was with him again, which she’d apparently just _conveniently_ forgot about when she went to see the fortuneteller. 

“And where are you going?” She spotted him. While he was trying to slink away. 

“I need more clothes than just my blue spirit outfit.” He ground out. “I was _hoping_ to find something in town.”

“And you couldn’t have done that earlier?”

“No, actually, your brother was very busy trying to make me waste my time or earth kingdom peasants, funnily enough.” 

“Oh, how convenient.”

“What? You wanted me gone anyways. Are you afraid I’ll just slip away? What nefarious plans am I going to get up to in a clothes shop? Maybe I’ll shoplift a scarf. Seriously, what the hell is your damage?” 

“Katara just let him-”

“How am I supposed to just _trust_ that you won’t slip around and grab Aang while he’s alone?” 

That was actually not that bad of a plan. 

“Sorry, I forgot. You’re a suspicious psychopath.” He spat. It wasn’t like he could do that now, anyways. 

“Katara, seriously. He hasn’t even done anything suspicious. Just let the guy get clothes. Or I’ll go with him.”

“You need to drive Appa while-”

Zuko didn’t hear the rest. Katara took her eyes off of him, and that was her mistake. 

He was gone. 

He remembered while he was at the clothes stand in the square that he didn’t have _money._ He ground his teeth. 

He was on his way back towards the group with stolen clothes (green, unfortunately, but if he’d stolen any other color it would have been easier to tell) draped over his arm when something red streaked through the air. 

A messenger hawk! An honest to goodness, Fire Nation messenger hawk. Zuko grinned. There was nobody in this backwater earth kingdom village that had to be worth the Fire Nation sending a messenger hawk except him. He glanced down the alley for only a moment before taking off to open the message alone. 

It found him readily, and he popped open the tube with much zeal. 

“ _Nephew,_

_I hope this letter finds you in good health. Port Nerok is especially beautiful today. I can’t help but wonder where your travels have brought you, and hope to hear from you soon._

_In a few days, we will be headed due North. I would love to have you in for tea at least one time before we launch. I have made a new blend that I believe you will truly adore._

_With love,  
Your Uncle._”

There was a lot of that letter that was irrelevant that Zuko didn’t read at all. The _actual_ letter took up a full page. And there was a great deal of passive aggressiveness. Zuko wasn’t good with most people, but he knew the exact way Uncle would have spoken those words, and that was the way he said stuff when it meant the opposite of what he said. He’d seen Uncle speak like this to very, very scared crewmen on the _Wani._

So. . . Uncle was very, very mad. And not you-burned-the-leaves-again mad, this was you-did- _WHAT_ mad.

He needed to write back, right now. 

\-------------------------------------------

Aang would have to sort through the Zuko Left emotions later- he had the book, and it was time to save a village. 

But, on the way up, Katara looked really mad. And Sokka looked really trying-not-to-also-be-mad. And Aang was uncomfortable with this energy. 

“So. . . what happened with Zuko?” He asked. 

His friends answered in unison 

“He went to get clothes,” 

“Sokka let him escape.”

“Hold on, escape?” Aang blinked. Escape reeeeally seemed like a word that one would use if you were holding someone against their will, and ZUko had _asked_ to join them all by himself!

“Yeah.” Katara grunted. 

“No, he went to buy some new clothes. Katara is being paranoid.” 

“He stole my necklace, and also destroyed two villages! There’s no way, no WAY he’s doing something as benign as going shopping.” 

“You helped destroy a village,” Sokka pointed out.

“An _evacuated_ village! And I was lied to!”

“And he’s been Fire Nation Propoganda’d to his whole life! And now he’s trying to be good!” 

“You’re seriously defending him?!”

“Look, if you can train an isopuppy to be vicious, you can probably train a kid who grows into a teen who grows into a fire nation citizen.”

“What does that have to do with-”

“The point is that he’s probably not evil by nature! And I think he deserves a chance! Besides, he’s too incompetent to actually capture Aang.”

Aang felt a bit offended for Zuko’s benefit. 

“We can debate Zuko’s nature later, let’s just bend these clouds.” Aang interrupted. 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko had sent the messenger hawk back to the ship and stowed the stolen writing kit where he’d stowed his clothes when the clouds became a skull. 

Which was odd. 

And then the villagers began panicking like mad while the sky bison landed in the town square. 

Which was also odd, but at least it gave the clothes vendor less of a chance to notice the theft. 

He walked to the square and listened to the Avatar yell his plan. While they were mobilizing the villagers, he walked up to the group. Katara was fuming- this didn’t surprise him- but the Avatar exclaimed his name excitedly. 

“How can I help?” He asked, crossing his arms. 

“Uh. . . can firebenders bend lava?” Aang asked, hopeful. 

“I can’t.” He shrugged. “But that’s something you should look into. 

“What happened to new clothes, Zuko?” Katara sneered. Zuko tried very hard not to set her on fire. 

“I dropped them when the massive skull appeared in the sky.” He ground back. His temper felt like it was getting worse. He hadn’t even noticed his hands being on fire until Katara reached for her water. 

“Guys-”

“I’ll just grab a shovel.” Zuko spat, and stalked off to start digging, which was a very unprincely activity. 

Zuko had forgotten that the Avatar was as much of a powerful bender as he was. Somehow. The Avatar had only dropped an avalanche on his ship. But still, usually the Avatar just evaded him. 

Now, creating a massive lava shell around a village, saving it from certain destruction? That was impressive. But as they were leaving (Zuko had slunk away to grab his things while the cheering and the congratulating and the bleh was happening), one thing was bothering him. 

“Avatar.” Zuko asked, still grabbing the saddle as the balck half-shell of lava rock began getting lighter in color under the sky bison. 

“You can just call me Aang,” The Avatar turned around. “But yeah?”

“Why didn’t you earthbend those trenches?” 

“. . . Oh, you’re _serious._ Um, Zuko, I. . .” The Avatar made a sheepish laugh. “I only really have air mastered.”

“. . . Huh?”


	5. A Haircut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko runs into some problems, as usual, but on the better hand, Aang has a much, much better time at the nunnery than he thinks he might have in some strange alternate universe!

Zuko was trying very, very hard not to _scream._

They were wasting so much time, and the Avatar still was only an airbender and kind-of-ish a waterbender, and they were just sitting near a boat overnight!

It was a piece of (Savage) Southern Water Tribe work. Surprisingly well held together. For savages. And the water tribe kids seemed very intent on staying near it because it was part of their father’s fleet. 

Which Zuko hardly understood. Technically, the _Wani_ was a part of his Father’s fleet, and so were Zhao’s ships. But he’d never stay near Zhao’s ships. And ALL OF HIS STRUGGLES IN LIFE WERE STUPID AND TRIVIAL, AGNI PLEASE STRIKE HIM DOWN, HE WAS WEAK AND HIS FATHER WAS RIGHT TO HAVE SENT HIM AWAY, UNCLE SHOULD HAVE TOSSED HIM OVERBOARD THREE YEARS AGO, AND WHY DID HE THINK THIS BOAT SITTING WAS A WASTE OF TIME IT WASN’T LIKE HE EVEN WANTED THEM TO MAKE IT TO THE NORTH POLE ANYWAYS-

And everyone was staring at him. 

“What?!” He snapped. 

“Zuko, the fire.” The Avatar sheepishly pointed to the _raging inferno_ that Zuko had been fueling without really noticing all that much. The waterbender was tense. Zuko was also tense. Two can play at that game. 

“Sorry,” He grumbled, and began inhaling slowly and exhaling even slower, like he was supposed to every morning and hadn’t for. . . what, four days? Five days? 

Too long. Uncle would be upset. 

And the fire was calm as soon as he forced himself to be calm as well, and he managed to almost dispel the feeling of needing to scream. 

Almost. 

“That was cool, Zuko!” The Avatar cheered. Zuko winced. 

“It’s not cool. It’s a breathing trick. It’s the first thing they teach you.” He grumbled. 

“Then can you teach me?!” The Avatar scooted closer to Zuko around the fire. Zuko scooted an equal amount away. 

“The moon is out. It’s hardest to learn at night. Maybe later.” 

The Avatar scooted towards Zuko again. Zuko scooted away again. 

“But I’m the Avatar! So I’m bound to learn WAY faster! C’mon, pleeeeease?” The Avatar looked up at him with his big eyes. 

It was impressive how such an old man had the impression of a kid down so eerily correct. 

“No! Maybe tomorrow!” 

The Avatar scooted. Zuko stood up to storm away. 

As he reached the edge of the firelight, he collided with. . . a tree? No, to man-ish to be a tree. 

Oh. A man.

Zuko leapt back and readied his fire, which leapt to him like it would on dry kindling. 

“Bato?” Katara called out. 

“Stay right there. Don’t come any closer.” Zuko ground out. The man stayed stiff, in a battle stance, but Zuko could she that his right side was a little too stiff. He was injured. Good, that made things easier. 

“Zuko, don’t attack!” Sokka got up and ran past him, to attack- tackle- to _hug_ the enemy? 

“Sokka?” The enemy had a water tribe accent. “Katara? What are you two doing here?” 

Great. _another_ savage. 

“Hi, I’m Aang.” The Avatar got up and put a hand on Zuko’s shoulder (A large hand, a gaze looking out to sea, a smile that doesn’t pull at his face the wrong way). 

Zuko scooted away from the Avatar. His veins burned under his skin. He started breathing again. At least it was cold out. 

“The angry flamey guy is Zuko. Don’t worry, he’s nice.” 

“According to Aang,” Katara muttered, scathingly. 

A cold wind blew. The watertribe people shivered. Zuko sighed, just barely, as it soothed the burning that felt like it networked through his body. 

“This is no place for a reunion.” The water tribe man insisted. 

He began walking away and beckoned the Avatar- not Zuko- to follow. 

Both followed anyways. 

\-------------------------------------------

Bato couldn’t believe his luck, in the best and worst ways at the same time. 

On one hand, Hakoda’s kids were here! With the Avatar, no less! But, on the other hand, Hakoda’s kids were here. With the Avatar, no less. And a very grumpy firebender. 

Bato decided to count himself lucky that he hadn’t brained the kid and also to keep an eye on him. But he couldn’t be any other than 18, and Bato had a very, very strict no-killing-the-kids policy. Unless that kid decided to commit arson, then it was definitely self defense. 

The other weird thing was that the kid ate sea prunes like he’d never eaten before. When questioned, he only explained with,

“It’s way better than Sokka’s cooking.” 

This sparked an argument and also made the kids stop asking him questions about his exploits with Hakoda, which made him feel better because he was a much more mature man now, and would never do that (which was a lie). 

Through this argument he learned that the Avatar was a vegetarian, Sokka overcooked most foods, the fire nation kid’s name was Zuko and he could shout like nobody’s business, the group had little to no money or access to spices, and that Katara missed seal jerky. Very informative. He’d have to give Sokka a lesson in not ruining all the food he touched. 

This settled down, and the kids chatted with him more, but it was easier stuff. Questions about how the navy had been doing. He replied vaguely enough- kids had no place knowing the nuances of war, not this young. It was always hard, but. . . Sokka wasn’t even of enlisting age, yet. And Katara was younger. He couldn’t tell them. 

And better yet, the Avatar was talking too. And the kid was admittedly funny- he talked about the pranks he used to pull on the monks, and Bato was enthralled. Imagine the type of shenanigans he and Hakoda could have gotten up to with airbending. . . 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko was very glad that the waterbender was so interested in the other savage from her tribe, and that the guy was interested enough in the Avatar that Zuko could eat the last of the sea prunes (They were incredibly salty, which was as close as he could get to spicy on this stupid journey) and get out of there. He snuck out of the sweet-smelling courtyard and back down the path, down to the waterfront, and that boat. How many of his people had faced down boats just like this, and for how long? 

He lit up the fire that had gone out hours ago. It was still dark. He was still angry. He sat where he’d been earlier, back before they’d had to go to the nunnery. He closed his eyes. A camp fire wasn’t candles, but it was _fire._ And he could meditate near it. 

. . . Or he would have, if the sound of the damn running bird hadn’t snapped him out of it. He stood, and a serious Earth Kingdom man called out. 

“I’m looking for Bato.” 

“I know him,” He replied, cautious. 

“Be sure this gets to him.” The Earth Kingdom man tossed a scroll at him and kept riding. 

What a secure post system, Zuko thought scathingly. But speaking of post systems, the marked screech of a messenger hawk cried out, and Zuko cheered up. Well, “cheered”. He was never cheery. 

It landed on the boat, and ZUko had to reach up to get to the message. 

“ _Nephew,_

_It is delightful to hear from you. However, your last message was rather unclear- Do you plan to come for tea before we leave? This answer should be replied to as quickly as you can, just so we don’t leave without you. If you don’t make it, we will be planning to head to the port town under the name of Geonggin, an Earth Kingdom port with a healthy mix of Fire Nation traders. It isn’t hard to find on any map, so I trust that in a pinch you could find your way to it quite easily._

_As far as the fever-_ ” The “horrible burning” feeling Zuko remembered writing to him about, “ _\- I can only recommend rest and relaxation. However, when you are doing that, you might be bored. I recommend lots of meditation. I hear it can help reign in a fever and contain it. I can send you some tea, also! Do not be afraid to ask._

_I’m glad to hear you’ve been making friends on your journey. How are they treating you? Would they like to come for tea as well?_

_Captain Jee is as bad as always at Pai Sho, if you were wondering. And music night has been really missing your tsungi horn skills! The crew just isn’t the same without you around._

_With love,  
Your Uncle._”

Zuko tried very hard not to light the paper on fire. He needed the paper to respond. 

But of COURSE Uncle prescribed _meditation_ and _relaxation_ for a serious problem. Well, the meditation made some sense. But Zuko wondered if it would _really_ solve his problems. It seemed so easy for something that was scaring him so much. 

No, not scared. _Healthily concerned._ He was healthily concerned about his firebending. 

Being scared was for everybody else. He was a prince. He was different. 

He began to write back.

\-------------------------------------------

A day after Zuko wrote his letter, Iroh received it. He had been sitting on the deck of the ship, feeling the sun on his face and humming quietly to himself

The crew was very unsettled by the way he smiled at the letter and burned it. 

\-------------------------------------------

In the present, Zuko had opened the door. 

“Mail.” He grunted, and all of the water tribe people looked up expectantly. 

The Avatar smiled too, but with a touch of sadness. Maybe. Zuko could have been misreading that. He wasn’t super great with people. 

He tossed the scroll to Bato, who caught it with the arm that wasn’t bandaged. He opened it without hesitation. 

“It’s Hakoda. And the rendezvous point. I get to rejoin the fleet.” The man grinned more and more with each line. 

“Are you sure you want to go back, Bato? You’re still hurt-” 

“I have to, Katara. Every man counts.” 

Zuko missed meditating. 

“Anyways, you guys can have the furs to sleep on. I’m going to leave in the morning. I have to advise you do the same. The nuns took me in because I was injured, but you guys won’t have a whole lot of excuses. Good night, guys.” He smiled and crawled back into the tent set at the back of the room, which Zuko continued to think was very stupid, there was already a room, why did he need another smaller room- 

You know what? It didn’t matter. 

Everyone else traded good nights and laid down. Zuko stayed upright, and stared at the fire in the middle of the room. 

Hey, meditation time was back. 

\-------------------------------------------

Aang was so glad he hadn’t left like he’d planned last night. He’d felt so, so left out. That wasn’t fair, he guessed- part of it really was that Bato and his friends shared a whole culture, and Aang didn’t even share a time period with them. And that just made it feel worse, that even with all the time he’d been spending with Sokka and Katara, he couldn’t beat this random water tribe guy who knew all the insider stuff. And Aang didn’t even have any airbenders left to do the same with, and-

Well, whatever. It was fine. Everything would be, eventually, once he defeated the Fire Lord in a non lethal way that involved none of his friends dying and him learning all the elements in time before. . . well, before. 

When Zuko made that comment about Sokka’s cooking, and sparked that mostly-play argument, even Katara laughed. And Katara _hated_ Zuko, like. A lot. And it’d brought Aang the chance to really get to know Bato, and his friends, and when Bato told them about Hakoda’s position, he thought for a moment that his friends would leave him. 

“I would love to see dad,” Sokka had said, setting down his bowl with (ew) sea prune juice left in it, “but. . .” He made eye contact with Katara, who nodded. 

“We have to get Aang to the North Pole.” She smiled at Bato, but it definitely was sad. Aang was good with people. 

“Guys. . .” Aang’s heart sank and flew all at once. 

“I’m sure Hakoda will understand, and he’d be proud of you kids. So strong and responsible.” Bato laughed. 

“Yeah. Hey, promise to tell him we love him?” Katara asked. 

“Of course.” Bato nodded. 

“Oh! Oh! And that we’d love to see him at any time!” Sokka added. “Now that we have Appa, he can send US a rendezvous point too and we’ll go whenever we can!” 

“. . . Sure.” 

And now, the next day, Sokka and Katara were hugging Bato goodbye, and even Zuko seemed to be scowling less. Which was nice. But there was also something that. . . okay, Aang couldn’t wait. 

Bato got his boat in the water, and Katara helped him out just a little. Aang turned to Zuko. 

“You’re getting fuzzy.” He pointed out. 

“My wit is sharp as ever,” his eventual firebender teacher snapped. But the bags- bag- under his eyes- eye- begged to differ. 

“No, no. Your head. You shave that regularly, right?” 

Zuko’s hands immediately went to his head, and he scowled more again. 

“Shit.” 

“Language,” Katara automatically warned while checking the straps on Appa’s saddle. (She always remembered the falling-off-Appa-because-the-saddle-was-loose incident with far more horror than everyone else- mostly because Sokka was asleep and Aang could effectively fly or at least cushion the fall.) 

Sokka began laughing just a little bit, but a glare filled with ice filled with glare made of fire worked together to shut him up. 

“You want me to help you? I can get rid of the topknot, so it all grows in together.” Aang offered. “I’m pret-ty nifty with a razor.” He ran his head over his perfectly bald head. 

“I thought airbenders had genetic hair loss,” Zuko blinked. This was one of Zuko’s maybe-a-joke-or-maybe-casual-racism-he-had-beat-into-him-as-a-kid-because-you-know,-all-fire-nation-kids-are-brainwashed moments. 

“Nope! Just a cultural thing. I have a razor. Offer stands!” 

Aang saw the gears turning. Finally, as if it pained him, “Fine. Make it fast.” 

Aang pulled out his shaving kit (A very nice antique of a thing that Gyatso gifted him for his tenth birthday- “it’s not every day the second-best prankster in the Western Air Temple turns double digits”- and that Aang had absolutely needed to bring with him when running away) and had Zuko sit down. Near a river. This seemed to matter a lot to Zuko, so they’d trudged up the coast until they found one, which hadn’t been super far. Zuko just said it needed to be running water. 

It really struck Aang how tall Zuko was compared to him and how immaculate his posture was when Aang saw him sitting and stood behind him. He took the razor and cut below the hair wrap, as instructed. Zuko had his eyes shut tight. 

Zuko sounded very much like he was muttering something, like a prayer, as Aang cut through the strands as evenly as possible so it wouldn’t be too hard to even it out. The sound of the cutting made Zuko’s face crease more and more with every pass of the razor, and Aang handed him his severed hair once the deed was done. Zuko muttered a little more, and dropped his hair in the river, and finally opened his eyes to watch it float out to sea. 

This felt very final to Aang, but he didn’t really know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it's amazing how different just this one episode is without Zuko antagonist-ing, huh? 
> 
> How wack is it that Zuko let Aang cut off his Very Important Top Knot, huh?


	6. A Travelling Intermission (re upload)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *elevator music plays*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so super sorry! Something in the HTML messed up on this chapter, so I had to reupload it. Sorry to that 13 or so people that commented- I DID read your comments, but the chapter was all messed up.
> 
> . . . Wow. Just realized i could have copied and pasted the corrected form into the "edit chapter" Thingy. Hmm.
> 
> Sorry, part two-

“You look dumb.” Katara informed Zuko, whose good eye twitched in an anger that he felt like he was a saint for keeping down. 

“Aw, don’t be like that Katara! I think he looks like a moon peach!” The Avatar grinned, patting Zuko on the shoulder (which he had to reach up to do). Zuko frowned deeply. 

“I am not a moon peach.” 

“Nah, but you look like-” 

“I want to go back to hunting you,” Zuko grumbled, folding his arms. The Avatar laughed. The waterbender did not. 

“So, we ready to leave?” Sokka asked, smiling at the group. Zuko wanted not to leave. 

He hated the nunnery, but at least the damn nunnery was on the ground. 

Everyone chimed in positively, though, so it wasn’t like Zuko could just _stay._ He got on the bison. It was much easier this time. 

He closed his eyes and took stabilizing breaths. He hadn’t fallen off any of the other time he’d flown. He was alright. The saddle had high sides. Nobody died in sky bison crashes- far more people die from lizard dogs every year! (no, wait, that fact just made him afraid of lizard dogs. And aware of the fact that nobody rode sky bison anymore.) He’d stealthed his way into a Fire Nation military base and broken a top-priority prisoner out of the center before, why was he so scared about _flying?_

“You can open your eyes now. We’re above the cloud level.” Katara pointed out snidely. 

“Really??”

“Try looking,” Sokka suggested, and the glee in his voice scared Zuko more than flying. 

“. . . I’m good, actually.” He choked out, deciding not to look. If he didn’t look, the air up here could just be a chilly breeze, and he could use his breath of fire to harm him up, and everything was fine. 

“Woah, you just breathed fire.” Sokka pointed out, helpfully. Zuko hadn’t really, it was just a lick of flame that managed to make itself known. 

“Yes. It’s how I warm up.” Zuko replied, as if Sokka were stupid, which he was. “My uncle taught me.” 

“You mean that old guy that’s always on the boat you stomp around on?” Katara piped up. 

“The _Wani,_ but yeah.” 

“But he seemed so nice.” She frowned, not that Zuko could see. 

“He’s lazy.” Zuko corrected. 

“One can be both!” The Avatar chimed up. 

“Whoa, he _is_ toasty. Katara, come feel this!” He felt a shift as Sokka scooted towards him. 

He was too terrified of falling to scoot away. 

“He’s breathing fire, Sokka, I’m not gonna scoot near him.”

“That’s a good idea. You should listen to your sister-” 

“Oh absolutely not, you are _warm!_ ” 

“But there’s fire coming out of my mouth!” Zuko felt sparks leave him, rolling off his tongue. Sokka didn’t move. He imagined Katara with her hand on her water. He imagined correctly. 

“But it’s like cuddling near a sleeping polarbear dog!” The water tribe boy crooned, and Zuko felt himself be (assaulted) cuddled up to. 

“You own a coat!!!”

“And you own firebending! So shhhh. Let me have this.” Zuko was very angry. 

But Zokka’s head on his shoulder was. . . sort of comfy. He guessed. For someone who was taking advantage of him. 

“I wanna cuddle the firebender,” The Aangvatar complained. 

“Just drive Appa, let me enjoy this while his eyes are closed and he won’t fight back.” 

Zuko thought about proving him wrong, but. . . 

\-------------------------------------------

“So, what are you doing in these waters, Captain Zhao?” Iroh poured a cup of tea for Zhao and himself, making sure to slide Zhao’s and not sip at his own. 

“ _Admiral,_ ” The younger officer corrected, waiting to drink his tea until Iroh did. “And I’m continuing my search for the Avatar.” 

“Oh, really? I had heard word that you had captured the boy.” Iroh only smiled wider. 

“The _Avatar_ is a master of escape. I’m sure your Nephew knows all about that. And he was assisted. Speaking of, where _is_ Zuko?” This wasn’t a genuine question. 

“Prince Zuko is running a high fever. He is self quarantining for the good of the ship. It would be hard to control a whole ship when the crew is all indisposed, don’t you think? And I am getting on in years. I must concern more after my health.” 

“Ah. How kind. I suppose I will not be able to have words with him, then?” 

Iroh’s smile was as false as Zhao’s. “I am afraid not.” 

Zhao left without drinking the tea. 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko was surprised by how directed they seemed to be getting to the north pole. 

And by just how fast his hair was growing out. It was less of a fuzz and more of an actual covering now, something that could be mussed up. Which the Avatar seemed to think was absolutely excellent. 

Zuko knew it wasn’t just stray winds that kept blowing his hair around, it was far too direct. And it ALWAYS made it look like somebody had run up and tousled his hair, which Zuko hated. He really wanted to have his hair be left alone, thanks. 

Not that it was entirely orderly when he did it, but still. 

They’d switched to walking- Zuko was thrilled, almost. Walking was something humans were meant to do. The forest was nice and bright in the early afternoon, not too warm and not too cold, and the path they walked was easy and well-travelled. 

And it had a posting board in the middle. Zuko paused. Were they in fire nation territory? 

Well, it wasn’t like he wasn’t already playing at treason.

They wandered up, and the Avatar got very excited about a fire nation carnival. 

“Oh, no.” Zuko groaned. “No, absolutely not.” 

“Why-”

“I agree with Zuko. We should move on.” Sokka barely looked at the festivities poster and walked around to the other side. 

“But _why?_ ” The Avatar complained. 

“Because of this.” The water tribe boy held up a wanted poster with a painting of Aang. 

“Oh, cool! A poster of me!” The boy chimed. 

“Yeah, a wanted poster. Looks like I’m here too.” Zuko had walked around to inspect the board. He jabbed his finger at a very poor rendering of his Blue Spirit mask. “Of course, I’m less recognizable.”

“Yeah. I guess there isn’t really time for a fun stop, huh? And I already found my firebending teacher,” The Avatar mulled. “I guess we won’t stop, then.” 

Zuko read the bounty for Jeong-Jeong. 

Huh. He looked almost familiar. 

\-------------------------------------------

More time travelling, and Zuko was finding it. . . Very easy, to spend his infiltration time. He’d meditate with the campfire until he fell asleep, and then he’d wake with the sun on his face and tell Sokka how to cook and then refuse to touch the food because the last time he offered to cook, Katara lost her mind. 

She was about the only thing keeping this from being agreeable, other than the fact that they flew periodically. But other than that, Zuko let Sokka attach to him on bison rides (only because it made him feel less like he was about to fall), and Aan- the Avatar tell jokes and show him airbending tricks (he definitely didn’t learn the marble trick but with a small ball of flame), and Momo roost on his head (he was done getting scratched trying to remove him), and Appa. . . 

Okay, his outer layer of fur was gross but there was some down fur if you sank in far enough, and he was pretty cozy if you just gave yourself over to him and let yourself be absorbed. 

“Dude. Are you alright.” This wasn’t phrased as a question, and also came out of Sokka’s mouth, who had apparently snuck around Appa while Zuko wasn’t paying attention. 

“I’m sleeping.” He ground out. “Shush.” 

“. . . Right. Kay. See you uh. . . See you tomorrow.” 

“Snnnurph.” Said Zuko.


	7. Flying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko has some. . . experiences. . . at the Northern Air Temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much homework today skfjsaf I forgot to /write/

Zuko was very uncomfortable at this temple. Most everybody here flew, which. . . Yeah, no, Zuko hated that. And they destroyed a cultural monument- Maybe it belonged to Air Nomads, but seriously, no respect whatsoever for the dead? It felt like the sort of thing that would create a haunting in a play. One of the bad horror ones that aren’t even scary. And it seemed the Avatar agreed. 

It didn’t hit Zuko that he must have come here until a while after he should have. And either way, he was very busy being harassed by wheelchair kid to get into the stupid green glide-y thingies that everyone was getting into. 

And then Katara got in one, and he had to get into one or he’d be weak. 

So now he was standing on an edge, looking into an abyss, holding a lightweight wood contraption. The kid was saying something about lightweightness, and Zuko rolled his eyes. Katara jumped. Zuko didn’t. 

A gust of air took him over the edge. 

A scream was ripped from his mouth as the glider dropped for several feet, bringing his head towards the ground. It didn’t stop as the glider swooped up into the sky, leaving his stomach behind. 

“You doing alright, Zuko?” The Avatar pulled up near Zuko, on his staff. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Zuko replied, wide-eyed. “Tell my Uncle I always liked his tea, no matter how much I pretended to hate it- HURK- WHAT THE FUCK WAS thAT-” 

“A bug, probably.” 

“WHY DOES AGNI HATE ME?!” 

Merciful, merciful _ground._ Zuko might have kissed the next earth bender he saw on principal. But right now he was sitting on the ground, _not_ because his legs were shaking more than they ever had, and _not_ because he would fall over again if he stood up. He closed his eyes and centered himself. 

He would never complain about Appa again. 

“Hey, Teo. I’ve been thinking. If you still want to know what’s in that chamber, I’ll open it for you.” The Avatar was saying. Zuko opened his eyes again.

“Awww, yes!” The wheelchair kid cheered. Zuko slowly braced himself up. He was able to stand, a little, and he was able to walk a few steps. It was enough to follow the Avatar, who was following Teo, through the halls filled with pipes that leaked warmth into the air. The pipes became fewer and fewer with each turn, until they reached the only untouched hallway. 

It was dusty, and sunlight was streaking in, catching the dust particles as they floated in the air. It was gorgeous, in a sad sort of way. Like it could have been wonderful to see this place in its prime. 

He supposed that the Avatar _had._

Zuko was beginning to wonder how his people had been able to bear killing every single one of the airbenders if they could create art like this. 

The Avatar began the door opening, the noise of the air through the pipes filling the hallway with sound. It was such an interesting contraption to watch work, the lock turning and the door swinging open to reveal. . . 

To reveal. . . 

A room full of fire nation nation and wicked looking metal, a half-shrouded war ship sitting in the center. 

“This is a nightmare,” The Avatar whispered. 

“You have to understand-” the crazy inventor began behind them. 

“You’re making weapons for the Fire Nation!” The Avatar yelled. “I _knew_ you couldn’t be trusted!” 

Zuko decided to remain silent. So this was the man that developed all of the technology for their armies. Not a cunning Fire Nation man, like it was always implied, but a crazy Earth Kingdom father. 

This. . . was news to Zuko. 

The man explained how the Fire Nation threatened his new beginning, how the only way he’s kept them at bay is selling them the technology in exchange for just a little more time. 

Zuko felt sick, but he knew better than to speak out. The waterbender glared at him. He pretended not to notice. 

“When are they coming?” The Avatar demanded. Zuko wanted to leave. 

“Soon,” The inventor sighed. 

“The deal’s off,” The Avatar spat at War Minister Qin. Teo exclaimed from where Zuko and him were hiding. 

Qin looked into the corner. They locked eyes. 

“Zuko-” 

Qin was slapped across the face. Zuko was shaking. 

Qin left. 

\-------------------------------------------

Aang was trying not to worry. He was trying very hard. 

But when the scariest, toughest guy he’d ever met was shaking in the corner of the study, he couldn’t help it. 

“Zuko, what’s-” 

“He saw me.” The tone was haunted. 

“Oh. Oh spirits, Zuko, I am so sorry.” Aang forgot. He’d been so _angry_ that that Fire Nation officer dared to hold residents of an Air Temple under his thumb like that, and he’d just lashed out. He had forgotten that Zuko was committing treason for them. For _him._

Zuko just shook his head, staring off into the distance. 

“What’s wrong with _him?_ ” Katara asked, frowning down at him from across the room. 

“Katara, cut him some slack.” Aang protested. “He’ll be alright, I think. You’ll be alright, right Zuko?” 

There was no answer. 

\-------------------------------------------

He wouldn’t even get to explain himself. Qin was going to report him to his Father, and he would never regain his honor. There was no way they were going to listen to him after Qin’s report. He was so stupid! He should have grabbed the Avatar by now, what was he doing in an air temple?! He had no alibi! He’d grown so lazy and so familiar with the enemy that he’d forgotten. 

Oh, Agni, what if his Father- no. No, his Father would never send somebody to kill him. His Father cared. His Father loved him- he was just bad at showing it. He wouldn’t ki- He wouldn’t kill- 

Zuko wanted to get on the _Wani_. He wanted to go back to feeding the turtleducks with his mother. He wanted to be normal. He wanted- he wanted- 

He didn’t even know what he wanted. 

“Hey. Zuko.” Wheelchair kid- Teo- wheeled up to him. “I’m not gonna try and talk you through it, but. . . You wanna get somewhere that’s good for this sort of thing?” 

Zuko. . . Zuko nodded. Teo megan wheeling away. Zuko followed. 

“Whenever I’m panicking, I like to come here.” Teo informed Zuko, opening a door. “It’s a good place to think things out.” 

The room might’ve once been a monk’s room, but the wall had crumbled out. Instead of the sharp drop that most views had, this spot looked out over the chasm to the forest to the north of the temple. Zuko could see a waterfall crashing over where the divide began, and could even trace the path of the river snaking through the woods behind it. He could pick out the tallest trees, the ones that had endured this world long enough to stand tall. 

“Nobody’ll bother you here. And the pipes aren’t so loud down here.” Teo hovered near the door as Zuko walked in. There were blankets folded in the corner of the room. 

“. . . Thanks.” 

“You wanna be left alone?” 

“. . . Maybe not.” 

“Alright.” Teo wheeled in, pulled the door closed behind him. “Want to talk about it?” 

“. . . I don’t know if I can.” Zuko laughed at this. It wasn’t funny.” 

“Well, that’s fine.” Teo shrugged. “You don’t always have to have a reason to be this way, you know? Sometimes I’ll be just fine, and then I’ll just feel like. . . like I’m dying, you know?” 

Zuko nodded. 

“And it’s not even rational. Everything’ll be just fine, and then I’m terrified.” 

“I’ve done that before. Or, I guess things aren’t usually fine. At all.” He frowned. “I was banished from the Fire Nation three years ago.” 

“Oh, wow, really? That’s rough.” Teo frowned. 

“Yeah. It was. And my Father said he’d let me come back if I brought the Avatar with me. But here I am, travelling around with him, like some sort of moron. He’s public enemy number one right now. And Qin- that Fire Nation guy that came earlier- He’s not going to do me a favor and keep this quiet. Father’s never going to let me come home.” Zuko let it spill out. “And that’s been the only thing I wanted for so long. And it’s gone now, just because I was stupid and decided to let myself get comfortable.” 

“That’s. . . a lot.” Teo stared out at the view. “You’ve got a lot going on.” 

“I’m sure other people have it worse, I just-” 

“Zuko, are you kidding, man? You’re kicked out of your home by your own dad chasing down a living legend and you’re about to be charged with treason, and you’re worried you don’ thave a reason to be scared?” 

“I’m- I’m not scared-” 

“It’s okay to be afraid, man. If I can be afraid when nothing happens at all, I think you’re allowed to be scared when everything in your life is changing.” 

Zuko finally broke down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *banging pots and pans* ANGST TIME ANGST TIME ANGST TIME ANGST TIME-


	8. Treason! Treason for EveryBody!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko didn't remember the last time he just let himself cry openly, with another person present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a chapter tomorrow might not happen, I'm warning y'all now. My schedule is what one would call "weird" tomorrow and it usually take a whole day to bang out a wholeass chapter. 
> 
> (Also my dad bragged to his boss about how many likes this fic was getting ksdfkasfkdlafd (it should be clarified that my dad and his boss are super super nerds, like, we're-invited-to-DND-night-once-Covid-clears-out super nerds, so the fanfic thing isn't a super huge deal))

Zuko didn’t know how long Teo sat with him, a hand on his shoulder as he sobbed. He couldn’t remember the last time he cried like this- somebody in the room and still not caring. He learned not to cry early on. 

He was so weak. How could he just decide to break down like this, even in the face of adversity? (That was so stupid, he knew that there was no reason to be strong anymore, his country was against him, he would never claim his birthright, his family hated him-) 

“Teo? Zuko? Where did you guys go?!” Zuko snapped his head up. Katara’s voice. 

Teo locked eyes with him. Zuko nodded, wiping at his face and trying very hard to _breath_ again. 

“We’re in here,” Teo called out after a moment. He wheeled backwards. Katara opened the door. 

“Good. We need to make a game plan, and Sokka-” Katara looked out at the world, then to Zuko. She stopped short for just a moment, then started again. “We’re gonna defend the northern air temple. There’s a meeting in Teo’s dad’s office. We could use your guys’ help.” 

“We’ll be there.” Teo smiled. 

“Right. Well. See you there.” Katara nodded, and closed the door again. 

“Think you’ll be okay going?” Teo asked, once she’d walked away. 

“I don’t- I- I don’t know.” Zuko sighed, slumping down. “I don’t know if I can.” 

“That’s alright, man. You’re dealing with a lot.” Teo nodded. “I’ll have to be there, though. I know as much about Dad’s inventions as Dad does. Are you gonna be alright by yourself? 

Zuko nodded. He wasn’t sure if that was the truth or not. 

“Alright. I’ll see you later, ok? Come find me later.” 

\-------------------------------------------

The attack was being launched- and Sokka was unprepared. The war ballon just wasn’t ready, but the bombs were going off outside. 

“We were supposed to have a half hour!” Sokka panicked. 

“It’s ok, we just need to hurry!” The machinist hadn’t broken his work, frantically trying to get it finished. Sokka didn’t respond, only hastening his pace. The war ship was one of the only things that they could confidently call an advantage. They had no ground forces other than Aang and Katara, since Zuko was out of commission (He’d never gotten a straight answer from his friends on where he was or what he was doing). The air forces were cool and all, but with zero ground forces, it was more evenly match than Sokka was really comfortable with. The air forces would be great if they were launching an assault, but they were defending. It was logistically a nightmare. 

But he was going to make it work. He had to. For Aang, and for all the people living there. He had to. 

“Hey. I wanna ride in the balloon.” Zuko’s Signature Rasp invaded Sokka’s Battle Hype Inner Monolouge. 

“Oh, hey Sparky-” Zokka looked up. “Whoaaa, are you alright?” The guy looked pale, and wobbly, and his eyes were bright red. The pale skin on his face was all blotchy. 

“Does it matter?” 

“I mean. Yeah. It kind of does.” 

“Then I’m fine. I’ll drop fire on them. You could use the help, right?”

“Well, ground support would be ideal-”

“Sokka, my boy, talk while tying!” The machinist insisted. 

“RIght, right. Sorry.” Sokka began securing knots that he learned from Dad. “Anways, are you sure you can’t do ground support?” 

“Can’t.” Zuko almost seemed to choke on the words. He must really hate admitting defeat. “Can’t do it. I can ride with you, though.” 

“Don’t you hate heights?” 

“Sokka, just let me ride with you before I change my mind.” 

“Alright! Alright! Fine!” Sokka could count on one hand the amount of times Zuko had addressed him by his name. This would be exciting if the sounds of machinery didn’t sound like they were getting closer by the moment. 

“They have the counterbalance tanks!” The Machinist snapped his head up. “Quick! Sokka, you’re done on your side, right?”

“Just- about- yup!”

“Quick, boys! Get in the war balloon! AWAYYYYYY!”

“Wait, why aren’t they shooting at us??” Sokka wondered as Zuko tossed more fire into the engine. 

“The insignia! They think we’re on their side!” The Machinist cheered. Zuko shrunk further into his corner. 

“Then they won’t see this coming!” Sokka cut loose the bombs, stopping the tanks from crawling up. One after another, all four slime bombs fell. 

And still, some tanks kept moving. 

“Do you smell that Sokka?!” The machinist gasped. 

“Rotten eggs!” Sokka stared down, then straightened. “Take us up. Zuko, I need you to do me a huge favor. 

\-------------------------------------------

“You want me to fire into the chasm?” Zuko stared at Sokka like he was nuts. 

Because he _was_ nuts, why would Zuko just fire into the chasm at random?!

“Just do it, Zuko! IN a second. Once we gain some altitude.” 

There was an awkward pause. 

“Okay! Now! Light this bitch up!” 

Zuko stuck his arm over the edge (He was _not_ about to look) and fired a burst of flame into the air beneath them. 

There was a delay, and then the first patch of gas lit up, then a few more, and finally a large blast of hot air, sending the balloon up swiftly with the force. Zuko cried and fell back, pushing against the engine. The basket swayed, dangerous, and both Sokka and the machinist gripped the edge as if they were grabbing for the one thing they could feel would truly keep them safe. 

And all at once, the balloon swayed to a stop. The Machinist cheered. 

“Sokka! Sokka, Zuko, they’re RETREATING!” He whooped, a Sokka frantically looked around to catch the glimpse of fleeing red figures. 

Zuko didn’t want to notice how little of them managed to stand to retreat. 

“That was perfect!” Sokka whooped. “The temple is safe!!!” 

“You could have warned me about that!” Zuko snapped. 

“Well, I wasn’t sure exactly what would happen.” Sokka admitted. “But hey, we didn’t crash!”

Zuko’s good eye twitched. Of course. Of _course._

He wanted to head back to the Wani as soon as he could. 

\-------------------------------------------

And finally, they were back on Appa. Like nothing happened. 

But Zuko was staring out into the clouds, seeing past them. Aang was really concerned. But there he was, all upset and vacant. He was driven Appa, but maybe he could-

“It was brave what you did. Zuko.” Katara spoke, grudging. 

“Hm?” 

“The fireball.” Zuko flinched at the word fireball. “It was brave of you.” 

“Oh. Yeah. Sure.”

“What’s wrong? Katara just spoke to you in a positive manner! That’s astounding progress!” Sokka exclaimed. 

“I killed several of my countrymen. Like a traitor.” He droned, as if delivering a report. “From a high altitude. That was cowardice at its very finest.” 

“Really? Because I think they were about to burn a whole temple to the ground.” Sokka quirked his mouth. 

“You still _sympathize_ with your people?!” Katara exclaimed. “They were about to kill all of us indiscriminately. Your people have been committing genocide for a century!”

“They’re still my people,” Zuko bristled. “I have a duty to them. I should be showing them a different path instead of killing them!” 

“Oh, a duty as an average kid? How patriotic!” 

“As their _Crown Prince_ I should be leading them!” He yelled. “It’s not my fault you people have no loyalty to each other!” 

“How can you say that?!” Katara didn’t even react to the Prince news. 

“Crown Prince?” Zokka blinked. 

“I-”

“You’re Ozai’s _son?_ ” Sokka asked, a sudden disgust on his face. 

“Yes! Yes, I _am,_ and _how did you not already know this?_ ”

“We don’t stalk our enemies, sorry.” 

“Oh, that makes so much sense.” Katara bit out. “I knew I should have killed you by now-” 

“No killing!” Aang yelped. “No killing anyone!” 

“Aang, he’s part of the royal family-”

“-He’s a person-”

“-I’m right here-”

“-can’t just go around murdering-” 

“-I didn’t even want to join this stupid team-” 

“-His bloodline is pure evil-”

“EVERYONE SHUT UP!” Sokka yelled. “Tui and La, you guys are all so STUBBORN! You know something’s wrong when _I_ have to break up the argument. Jeez.” 

There was blessed silence, for just a moment. 

“So, what, we’re just not gonna do anything about this?” Katara asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “We have the Fire Nation’s next top war criminal on our sky bison and we’re gonna do nothing about it?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” Zuko grumbled. “Father would never let me back into the palace after finding out I’ve been traipsing around with you morons. My future’s already over, so I might as well just commit all the treason I can before-” 

“And we’re just supposed to believe you?” Katara sat, slack jawer for a moment. 

“Katara, he blew up some of his people, I really think you should lay off-” Aang began.

“The Fire Nation has done worse before, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was just deemed a necessary sacrifice.” 

“How dare you, you water tribe _peasant!_ ” Zuko spat, shaking with what could only be quantified as pure rage. His fire was burning under his skin- there were no fires at the temple to meditate at, and he only meditated when he could avoid being seen. It wasn’t good to be this irregular. And he was getting so little sleep. HE was in such a bad way, he just knew what Uncle would say if he saw him now. 

“You-”

“I don’t know what your people think about my nation, but we are an honorable country. If there is wrongdoing, don’t blame us all, blame the individual that committed the crime. But don’t you dare press your prosecution on all of us. I doubt your people have a pristine track record, either.” Zuko leaned back against the saddle. 

“Whoa. Maybe you are a prince, Sparky.” Sokka whistled. 

“Oh, shut up.” He turned away. 

Katara was absolutely livid, but Zuko couldn’t give less of a damn. 

“If you hate us so much, why not move on?!” She finally threw at him. 

“Because I have to teach the Avatar firebending, but he’s massively under experienced so I have to water until we get him a _real_ waterbending teaching and an earthbending teacher! And I can't really go home, so I’m here. And you really seem to think that’s optional.” God, he was lying, he was lying so badly, he was going to be discovered and she was going to kill him. 

“Why are you so dead set on teaching-”

“Because Aang might be able to prevent more Fire Nation deaths. I don’t care about getting colonies, I care about my nation living in prosperity, why can’t you get that through your thick water bending skull?!”

There was a stunned pause. 

“Not all of us are war mongering.” He grumbled. 

He wasn’t sure where the truths started and the lies began anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey look Zuko is solidly in the "morally grey" territory now!


	9. Northern Water Tribe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zhao finds some things out, and Zuko learns some very valuable lessons about not being a racist.

“Sick, was he?” Zhao had boarded the _Wani_ with hardly a hail beforehand. There was something cold and full of rage in that perfectly polite smile. 

Iroh’s stomach went tight. 

“I believe that is what I told you, General Zhao.” 

“Well, then it’s some wonder that War Minister Qin saw him at the Northern Air Temple with the Avatar.” The smile spread. 

Iroh sighed. “So my nephew is a traitor.” 

“You mean to deny that you covered for him?” Zhao seemed very surprised, if only for a split second. Iroh stood from his table, making the noise of a man whose joints had begun to protest such movements. 

He was not so out of shape, yet. 

“Oh no, General Zhao. I believe I did. I also believe that Prince Zuko is prone to not telling his elders the truth.” 

“You really want to tell me-”

“That my nephew lied to me? Yes. Do you think that I would betray my country and my brother in such a way?” He asked. 

“Oh, no, of course not.” Zhao backpedaled. “It just looks suspicious-” 

“Interrogate the crew if you must, General. I am sure that you will find that they will react quite similarly. It is unprecedented that he would leave us without saying a word, but three years away from his homeland might have hurt him in a way we could not have predicted. I can only feel as if I have failed him.” 

There was only one sentence that could be called the whole truth. 

“. . . Right. I’m sure you did all you could, General Iroh. As for the crew, I was actually coming to talk to you about that after I heard the news.” 

Iroh’s day was getting worse at a much faster rate than the day Zuko tried to befriend a particularly grumpy messenger hawk.

“Well, I am sure it will be lovely to hear over tea.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t have time for tea today, General Iroh. We’re launching a full-scale invasion on the Northern Water Tribe, and we’re conscripting your crew.” 

Now, Iroh was not a foul mouthed man in many situations, especially after his years finding his true self. He might have used curses as a weapon to hurl at undisciplined young soldiers ( _they didn’t know any better, they were drafted and forced away from their families, hundreds of them would die while laying siege to Ba Sing Se, his son-_ ) once upon a time, but not anymore. Not ever. 

Except now. He wanted to use every word of foul language he’d picked up from palace servants in his childhood and every insult he’d learned in the Fire Nation Army in exceedingly creative ways at Zhao, that creepy-

“An invasion.” General Iroh tugged on his beard. “That is quite the bold move.” 

“New intelligence has found its way back home. We stand a very good chance against the capital city and crippling them for good. The less threat there is to the Fire Nation, the better.” 

Iroh knew that the North had stayed as neutral as they possibly could for years on end. 

And he also knew that Zhao sounded a lot like he might have when he was his age. And as much as Iroh believed in the ability of a person to learn, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was too late for the Admiral to find a better version of himself. 

“. . . I’ve been thinking, Admiral Zhao, about your offer. I would like to rejoin the war effort.” 

Iroh had never spoken words less true that had given a man more joy. 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko hadn’t _meant_ to toss a fireball when the water tribe savages encased Appa in ice. 

Okay maybe he did, but they’d been surrounding him and he’d been scared. 

Which was a stupid decision, because apparently they’d been seeing a LOT of Fire Nation steamers uncomfortably close to their territory, and there was a lot of talk about laws that concerned Zuko not being able to cross into their borders without being vetted through first, most of which Zuko is PRETTY sure is pure bullshit. 

But he lets himself have his hands tied (with _rope,_ because apparently savages had no clue how else to restrain him) and tossed on a boat. The Avatar managed to negotiate so that he wouldn’t be tossed into the tiny, dingy holes in the boats they had the audacity to call a “hold,” so at least Zuko could be on the deck of a boat surrounded by men that were very cautious of him. 

He was flattered for the extra security, but inconvenienced by it nonetheless. 

The rest of the group were allowed to ride on Appa, which Zuko found totally unfair. Appa was less likely to get burned down and ALSO Zuko had been riding on Appa ORIGINALLY, _why_ were they separating him from the Avatar and Sokka and Katara? Bullshit. 

“There it is!” Aang- the Avatar, not Aang- called out. 

And. . . Zuko began reevaluating his opinions on the Water Tribe very quickly. 

A massive wall of snow and ice, with a perfect Water Tribe insignia stamped into it and watchtowers rising off the top of it, rose above him. He stared, somewhat blankly, as the wall was waterbent down in sheets of snow to allow the small fleet through the great wall. 

Oh, yeah, and he’d forgotten to mentally bitch about this in the last half hour: the North was fucking _cold._ Like, the WORST. He needed to CONSTANTLY use his breath of fire, and Sokka was constantly super close to him, and even Katara had edged closer to him during the nights, and don’t even get him STARTED on Momo, because he’d found out that lemur fur gave him _hives_ when the damn lemur crawled down his _shirt_ -

In short? He hated this and everything affiliated with it. 

Appa-and-company were waved through first, and Zuko’s boat (it was his now) went in after half of the fleet so Zuko would be guarded from all sides. 

They sailed into a chamber between the outer wall and the inner wall (who knew they could make not one, but two massive, Ba Sing Se-esq walls up in the Cold-As-Balls tribe?) and he vaguely heard Katara marvelling. 

Zuko decided, once and for all, as they sailed in and saw the massive capital and sprawling territories, that he had no right to call anybody savages. 

The buildings glittered a blinding white, but the architecture was a marvel of its own. The streets were filled with water and boats, firmly packed snow sidewalks on the sides for pedestrians. They were surrounded by their element. The people all stared in awe at Appa, who was swimming through the canals guided by a small, maneuverable boat. The Avatar waved and smiled at everyone, and Sokka found it more interesting to marvel at an elegant looking white-haired girl that passed them. 

Zuko stared at her for entirely different reasons. 

“Who was that?” He demanded of his captors. 

“Princess Yue.” Somebody returned briskly. No other response was given. 

Of course she was. She had certainly looked familiar. 

\-------------------------------------------

“Who was that?” Yue calmly asked her chauffeur. 

“The Avatar, Princess Yue.” 

“Not him. The scarred boy.” 

“I don’t know, Princess.” He always sounded tired of her. She didn’t pay him any mind. 

She knew her answer anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) sorry today's chapter isn't super long, it's just action packed!!! I had a Day yesterday, so I was super tired all day today. But I'm getting back in my rhythm!!!


	10. Not Paid Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gaang has some interactions! (Can the summary get any more vague? tune in tomorrow to find out!)

And so, here Zuko was. A firebender in a hard, ice cell. It was reminiscent of what he imagined an arctic animal’s snow den might look like, all hard packed _cold_ on all sides. There were tiny tunnels for fresh air and light to come through. When they were to be let out, the walls would be waterbent down. 

Zuko was making a conscious effort to remain at such a temperature that he wouldn’t melt any of the ice. It was so much harder when his flame was once again impatient and biting, but he was breathing and surrounded by ice. So even if the fire found its way under his skin, not visible but burning every inch of his body because they’d been flying for two whole days before. . . Which. . . Which he _could_ deal with! He’d managed to wiggle his way through the first time, the second time would be ok. Or. . . Or he’d go and sneak off and do meditation! Yeah. They’d be out soon enough, this was just a stunt. They’d let them out again soon. 

“Zuko, why don’t you warm it up in here?” Sokka complained. 

“You should be used to the cold,” Zuko grumbled, trying very hard not to let it interrupt his _very important breathing exercises._

“Yes but I got used to you being nice and warm.” 

“If I firebend in here, it’ll melt the walls.” He explained slowly. “And the guards will freak out. It will not help.” 

“But I’m cold-” 

“This is the cell?” A voice from outside asked. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Open it.” 

The wall came down, and Zuko cracked his eyes to look at the new people. 

A man stood in front of the guards Zuko noted from earlier, hands behind his back and an ornate necklace hanging low on his chest. His face was wrinkled. Or weathered. Zuko had seen that sort of face on plenty of lifelong sailors and even some of the marines on his boat. 

“This is not how I imagined meeting the great Avatar Aang.” He seemed almost amused by this. Zuko was. . . less amused. “I’m Chief Arnook. I apologize for this. . . less than favorable introduction.” 

The Avatar pushed himself up on a gust of wind, and stuck a hand out for Chief Arnook to shake. 

“I’m the Avatar! Oh, but call me Aang. That’s Sokka, son of the southern water tribe chief, and that’s Katara, the daughter of the southern water tribe chief, and that grumpy guy is Zuko son of the-” 

“Fishermen. On Ember Island.” Zuko interrupted. 

“You’re our troublesome firebender.” Chief Arnook looked him up and down. “Right.” 

“He was acting in self defense, honest. Appa got attacked. Or- Well, I’m not trying to make it sound like it’s your guys’ fault, because I’m sure you guys are really cool, like ice, you know? Haha, anyways, uh- He was just afraid someone was gonna hurt us. He’s really sorry. Right, Zuko?” 

“Yeah. Real sorry.” Zuko added, thinking he was very convincing. He wasn’t sorry. They’d encased Appa in ice. 

“. . . Right, then.” Chief Arnook nodded slowly. “I still have to talk to the council about letting him walk without papers-” 

“Aww, come on, Chief Arnook. He apologized, and he’s a friendly fire nation guy! Look at him!” Aang gestured, and Zuko found that to be the queue to smile. 

Which, he would learn later, looked a bit more like a tortured snarl or something. 

“So friendly.” The Avatar stressed. 

“I’m sorry, Avatar, but our laws are not meant to be bent. You and our brother and sister from the water tribe may join us for Princess Yue’s sixteenth birthday celebration, if you wish. There will be a grand feast.” 

“A feast? Count us in, Chief!” Sokka sprung up. 

“I’d love to attend.” Katara smiled and stood. 

“But guys, Zuko-”

“Go. It’ll be fine. I don’t want to go anyways.” Zuko grumped. 

“I’ll save you some food for when you get out.” Sokka called over his shoulder, and then the door was closed, and Zuko was alone again. 

\-------------------------------------------

“Prince Zuko, look!” A young, white haired girl pointed. “The ice sculptures changed again!” 

“Whoa! Is that a _dragon?_ ” A young, unscarred young boy leaned over a railing.

“Oh, Zuko, be careful,” A fair skinned fire nation woman fretted, walking over and placing a hand on the young Zuko’s shoulder. 

“Don’t worry so much, Ursa. Your boy is perfectly safe here.” A water tribe woman with dark skin smiled. “Yue’s never fallen over the balcony, I’m sure Zuko won’t.” 

“Oh, he’d find a way.” 

“I’m fine, Mom.” Zuko frowned, as Yue giggled. 

“Come on, Zuko. Let’s go look at the ice sculptures closer!” Yue grabbed his hand with a mittened hand and started dragging him away. 

“Have fun, dear!” Ursa waved. “Oh, Kyoha. What ever will we do with those two?” 

“I’m not sure, dear. Come, let’s go see about some cocoa and gossip.” 

\-------------------------------------------

“Princess, I’m not sure this is-” 

“Open the door, please.” A saccharine sweet voice penetrated the ice wall. 

“Your father-” 

“The door, please!” The voice didn’t lose its nice lilt, and the cell was open. The princess of the water tribe stepped in, and made a shooing motion at the guards, who exchanged glances, shrugged, and brought the wall back up. 

“Princess Yue. To what do I owe this pleasure?” 

It was nightfall, now. Zuko could feel it. Princess Yue wore a seemingly much thinner skirt than he’d seen her outside earlier under her parka. 

“What’s a small visit between old friends, Prince Zuko?” She asked, innocent, sitting across the small cell from Zuko. 

“Shh!” He widened his eyes. “How- how did you even recognise-” 

“Mm, you still have that look on your face when you get in trouble. I saw it on the boat earlier.” 

His stunned look let her burst into giggles, covering her mouth as a tiny snort bubbled out of her, a squeaky sound that hurtled him back to a time that was unfairly far away. He cracked a smile, at the sound. 

“I didn’t think I’d ever- I mean, after we stopped visiting-” Zuko burst into stunned laughter, and Yue crossed the cell on her hands and knees to wrap him in a hug, still laughing. 

“Spirits, I missed you, Zuko!” She giggled into her shoulder. 

And he. . . he hugged her back, tightly. 

The last sliver of his childhood that was good. 

She finally pushed him back to arm’s length. Her face finally got sad. 

“What happened to you, Zuko?” 

“I. . . Don’t want to talk about it.” 

“I understand.” she nodded. “You might pout the same, but you’re bound to be different. It’s been. . . ten years?” 

“If that, yeah. Wow.” He exhaled and leaned back against the sloped wall. “. . . How have _you_ been?” 

“I. . . well.” She sighed. “Not as good as I wish.” 

“Oh? Wanna talk about it?” He patted the floor next to him. She scooted next to him. 

“Father had me engaged.” 

“Whoa. That’s rough.” 

“Yeah. I’m sixteen now, though. So, technically, I’m old enough.” 

“Is he-”

“Gross? And self absorbed? And _dumb_ and _entitled?_ ” Yue pulled a face. “Yeah.” 

“Ew.” Zuko scrunched up his face. “Do what I did, run away with the Avatar.” 

“Fire Lord Ozai engaged you?!” 

“Ew, no!” he shoved her, and she giggled. “No, I was out of the palace way before sixteen.” 

“Oh. Is that the not-talking bit?”

“Yeah.” He paused. “Sorry.” 

“You don’t owe me the story. But I would like to hear it, some day.” She got slightly wistful. 

“. . . I was banished.” 

“Oh, wow. I’m sorry.” 

“Nah, don’t be.” 

A couple minutes passed quietly. 

“I’m gonna ask Father if he can get you out.” Yue promised, after a long moment. “You deserve it.” 

“The Avatar already tried it.” Zuko folded his arms. “He got shut down.” 

“Aang doesn’t know Father. I can get him to do it. And then you can come walk in the ice sculpture garden with me.” 

“. . . I’d like that.” 

“Yeah. I think I’d like it, too.” 

\-------------------------------------------

The Fire Prince was strange. He wasn’t really the prince- not in the way Yue was the princess, even when they were both five. Zuko was third in line to the throne. 

But he was funny, and Yue had decided they were friends from the first interaction. 

“You’re pretty.” He informed her, after they were formally introduced by their mothers, who were friends. 

She giggled, and even squeaked, which she was told wasn’t ladylike, but she didn’t care. 

“Thank you. You’re pretty, too.”

“Momma says I’m _handsome,_ not pretty.” He puffed out his chest, and Yue giggled even more. 

“Want to go look at ice sculptures with me?” 

“What are those?!” The Fire Prince grinned, those molten golden eyes glittering under the hood of his crimson parka. 

Their mothers watched them fondly, Ursa holding a small Azula, who’d been asleep on the ferry to the palace. 

They’d run off, and been fast friends while their fathers talked tersely behind doors. 

\-------------------------------------------

Yue still had all of Zuko’s letters, even to the present day. From stumbling, just-learning characters, to adequate scrawls, to an almost elegant script, Yue and him had communicated over an owl-hawk named Fua for the years until Zuko’d been deemed unavailable and any other details unavailable as well. 

She’d always wondered what had happened to her best friend and pen pal. 

And she may not know the whole truth now, but he was here. And while he was changed, he would still gossip with her, and joke with her, and smile. 

It meant so much. Even in these times, with her engagement weighing heavy on her, Zuko was alive. 

A good man, even, to inherit the Fire Nation. 

She’d had to leave, so she could visit Sokka, but she knew she’d talk to him more. 

But. . . it hadn’t gone as planned. She knew she shouldn’t get attached to Sokka, and with the engagement on her mind, she’d had no choice but to tell Sokka. 

And she’d had to run away. Just like she’d run away from the idea that Zuko might have been in trouble three years ago. 

\-------------------------------------------

“Do you think we should let the Chief know about the kid?” Ru asked, knocking his helmet back. It was a size too big, and he’d _told_ the armour department that, but they’d ignored him. . . 

“We’re not paid nearly enough, kid.” Patek advised Ru. “It’ll come out eventually. The Princess isn’t too good at keeping secrets.” 

“That’s your answer to _everything,_ dude.” Ru groaned. “And I’m a whole year younger than you, I’m not a kid.” 

“And yet, you’re the new guy.” Patel shrugged. “Tradition is tradition, dude.” 

“Ohhh, I’m going to waterbend so much water into your socks-” 

“Try it again, Ru. Rookies get their shit rocked for stunts like that.” 

“You are NOT THAT MUCH OF A SENIOR OVER ME-” 

“Hey, you two. Stop making a ruckus. Night guard already sucks.” The guard in charge of night watch grunted at them. 

Stupid Noa, with his correct fitting helmet. . . 

“Yeah, sure.” Patek grumbled. 

“Yes, Noa sir. . .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY MUFFINLANCE!!!! YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN MAKE LIKABLE MILITARY OCs! (I got a comment from them on this fic and I've been Seriously Obsessed with their fics lately so. Gotta throw shade even though Ru, Noa, and Patek have been characters I've been planning since I watched season 1 last cause I'm a asshole) Also, deleted scene:  
> "This managed to make the captain stop for a moment. A glorious, glorious moment. 
> 
> “Alright. Toss them all in a cell.” 
> 
> “Fuck,” Aang said,"


	11. Letters (An Intermisson)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A series of letters carried by Royal Messenger Owl-Hawk Snowy, First Of Her Name detailing correspondence between Princess Yue and Prince Zuko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I straight up forget to write today because I got really weird about halfway through today so have a lil intermission!

Deer Prince Zuko, 

To day Daddy toght me how to use the mesenjer hawk owls. I wantd to send a leter to you be cause you are my freind and I mis you. 

I wonder if I will evr get to vist you in the fire Naton. You vist us all the time, and I want to now what your home is lick. Is it hot there? I think it wood bee be cose it is kold here, and Daddy says that the fire Naton is verry difrent from the water Tribe. 

I cant wat to hear from you!

From, Princess Yue

Dear Princes Yue, 

It is so cool that I kan hear from you even when we are far apart. Mommy is helping me right this letter and says for you to say hi to your Mommy for her. I want to say hi to your Mommy too becose she seemed verry nice. 

The Fire Nation is very warm in the sumer time. The Palace is verry nice becose it is not very worm. But I like to visit the water tribe becos it is very difrent from home! It is verry prety!

Thak you for righting! 

From, Prince Zuko

P.S. I like the mesenjer owl! She or He is prety lik you becose you have wite hair too. Mommy is laffing at this. Okay! Godbye! 

Dear Prince Zuko, 

It’s been a while since I wrote to you. It’s weird that you haven’t visited in so long and nobody will tell me why. I don’t know if you know, but it’s alright because Snowy is still around and she always likes the challenge of going all the way to Caldera city. 

It’s summer time. I got to ride out to where the plants are beginning to sprout up through the snow, and there’s a lot less of it now. It’s strange to spend most of the year buried in snow only to bloom in such a small amount of time. Life even exists through the hardest circumstances. I pressed some of the flowers and I’m sending one to you so you can have a little part of the arctic with you even when you’ve been away. 

How is everything? I haven’t heard you talk about Azula or firebending practice in so long, I’d love to hear about it! Now that I’m getting older, I have a lot more responsibilities according to my parents. I’m only nine, but I have to learn how to talk to nobility because I can’t make my parents look bad. It’s sort of difficult, but I find that if I’m just quiet and smile, nobody gets me in trouble, unless I’m supposed to talk. I have to sit through super long classes, but I’ll know how to be a good princess at the end, so that’s ok. 

Also, I got a polar bear dog! I don’t know what to name her, but I’m also sending a drawing of her, and she’s very cute and I love her. Maybe you can send suggestions, if Snowy gets there and back in time. 

I look forward to hearing from you again,   
Your friend, Princess Yue.

My Friend Princess Yue, 

I missed writing to you. Your last few letters hadn’t gotten to me because Azula got to the hawkery first, and she likes to set things on fire. 

I’m sorry that your flower got burned. I save the ashes as best as I could, but I bet they’re not really as pretty. I snuck a flower from the gardens though, and I’m gonna send that to you because I feel bad. It’s not really my fault, but I’m still sorry. 

Father doesn’t think I’m a very good firebender. Apparently I breathe all wrong, but I think I’m breathing just fine. My teacher got upset with me the other day, but he seems to have calmed down. Azula’s super mean, though. She’s a very good firebender, so Father likes her a lot. 

Your polarbear dog looks super cool! I’m not good with names, though, so I can’t really help you out with naming her. I wish I could have pets, but Azula burned the bird I tried to save, so I think maybe I won’t have pets from now on. Hopefully we’ll visit soon and we can play with your dog, though, I bet she’s super cool! I heard you can ride on polar bear dogs once they get big enough- is that true? 

I spend a lot of time in classes too. It’s really annoying- I probably won’t even be Firelord, and they’re teaching me all these things about leading. It doesn’t make any sense! Uncle Iroh’s supposed to get the throne next anyways- he’s older than Father, which means he’s Crown Prince. 

I guess I’m supposed to go into the military when I’m older, but I’m not sure that’s for me. I’m not a strong friebender like my uncle or my father. Mom says I’ll get better, but I don’t know. Azula’s already super impressive, and she’s younger than me, so. . . I don’t know. 

It was super nice to hear from you,   
Your buddy, Prince Zuko.


	12. Wake-Up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's more Yue! And more Zuko!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: fuckin' fixed the HTML on this chapter. Sorry lads!

“Get up, firebender.” 

That was a shitty way to way up, as far as ways of waking up were concerned. Zuko glared at the offending voice- a soldier with an ill fitting helmet. 

He’d not slept much, but he must have been far more tired than he’d thought, considering that he knew the sun was up as soon as he opened his eyes. 

“I’m not done sleeping.” He uttered defiantly. 

“You’re being released, dipshit. Come on. We’re to show you where your friends are staying.” The other guard spoke up, and Zuko slowly pulled himself to his feet, face in full-scowl mode. 

He wasn’t tied up, but they watched him closely while they walked through the icy tunnels, as if he might suddenly go insane and attack. 

Zuko really did think about it. He was irritable, and he knew he must have the worst bedhead by now, and he’d not have a proper bath in a while, and _spirits,_ he wished he had a fire to meditate by. So of course, the idea of blasting the hell out of some assholes that had tossed him in a cell sounded pretty sick. 

But he let himself be walked to the small, cabin-like structure that the others were staying in. He got a pit in his stomach at the idea of sleeping on more ice, but where the first guard opened the door, the room was lined in furs and woods. 

And he calmed down. 

“Everybody is out right now. You’ll have to wait around for them.” They said as he glanced around. It was actually really nice in there. 

“Am I under some sort of house arrest?” Zuko asked, squaring his shoulders and turning back to look at his two guards. 

“. . . Technically, no.” 

“Good. Then I’m going to take a walk. It would be great to see the _sun_ for some time.” He spat, and stalked past them, back out the door. 

He decided not to think about the fact that he looked fucking riciulous.

And that he was cold. 

It took many hours for Zuko to decide that, yes, he might have lost track over how long he’d been out, and MAYBE he’d let the tactical. . . position. . .of the cabin. . . in relativity to hi-

He was lost. Okay? He was fuckin’ lost. And now he was stalking on the sidewalks near the canals, stomping and getting _looks_ and he wasn’t about to ask for directions! 

(He’d never been in the city proper before, and it had been a decade before, and how’d he gotten so lost?) 

“. . . Zuko?” The aforementioned prince snapped his head up to see Yue, who was obviously trying not to laugh at him from her fancy boat powered by a waterbender.

“Oh. Hey Yue.” He was instantly not nearly as angry. She was good at that- making all his anger just float away. Like bad things couldn’t possibly follow him if he just hung out with her. 

Well, he was still kinda pissed, but. 

“Aren't you cold?” She asked, as her boat slowed a bit to match pace with him. 

“No.” He lied. He didn’t want to firebend in front of these people or at least as little as possible. 

So yeah, he was chilly. But she didn’t need to know that. He wasn’t weak. 

“. . . right. Where are you headed?” 

“The cabin!” He insisted. 

“Oh! Cool.” They sat in silence for a moment. “. . .Would you like a ride?” She asked, annoyingly patronizingly. 

“. . . Yeah.” He replied. Like a coward. 

“Okay.” She motioned at the waterbender and scooted over to allow Zuko a space to sit. “Please take us to the Avatar’s cabin, thank you.” 

“But you’re meant to be-” 

“Avatar’s cabin, thank you.” 

“. . . Yes, princess.” 

“What are you even skirting?” Zuko asked a hint of a laugh bubbling up his throat. 

“A lunch,” She wrinkled up her nose. 

“Ah. Well, you’re doing an excellent job avoiding it.” Zuko assured her. 

“Why thank you,” She cordially responded. “I have many years of practice.” 

“Oh, me too. I’ve been running from my problems for _years_.” 

Aw, shit. That was almost an introspective thought. He was pretty sure he'd squashed all of those since they started crawling out of the Woodpile of Lies he’d been telling the Avatar’s team. 

Either way, they laughed together, and Zuko could _feel_ the chauffeur being uncomfortable behind him.

Thankfully, they both had years of ignoring people employed to take care of them, and the conversation continued lightly. 

“Goodness. Well, I do believe this is the neighborhood you should be in.” She pointed at the familiar cabin after a bout of not-very-royal laughter. 

“Oh. Already?” He blinked. Time had flown. 

“Indeed. I’ll have to head to lunch after. But it was nice talking to you, again.” 

The chauffeur brought the boat over and Zuko got out.

“Thanks for the ride, Princess Yue. I’ll see you around!” He waved, and turned on his heel, walking back to the cabin where he’d started his day. 

“And I’ll see you, buddy Zuko.”

Zuko was still laughing when he opened the door. 

“Who’s- oh! Zuko!” The Avatar popped up. “You got out of prison?” he asked as he sped over to hug the firebender. Zuko held out his hand and caught the monk’s bald head in it, and the kid struggled as he spoke. 

“I wasn’t in prison, I was in a holding cell for a night.” 

Sokka made a suspicious face at him. 

“What?!” Zuko asked, more exasperated than anything. 

“You were awful buddy buddy with Yue out there.” Sokka noticed in a seemingly scathing way.

“Oh my god, you really are a stalker!” Katara insisted. 

“No! There was a ruckus outside and I was investigating. It’s a difference. Anyways, good luck with her. She’s engaged.” 

“Yeah, I know. She told me.” Zuko was awfully confused. “We’ve been friends since we were five.” So, duh, he’d be buddy buddy with her?

“I didn’t know you even could have. . . feelings.” Katara frowned. 

“Wow. It’s so cool- it’s like it’s straight out of a scroll! Childhood friends, breaking against a marriage she doesn’t want! That’s awesome!” The Avatar grinned under Zuko’s hand. 

“Yeah. It’s ridiculous that she’s being forced to marry. She hates the guy. She deserves better.” Zuko huffed, letting the Avatar go finally. 

Instead of yielding, Aang immediately zipped through Zuko’s defenses and attached himself to him.

“Yeah. It’s a lot of misogynistic bull.” Katara grumped. 

“Right? She’s only sixteen.” Zuko sighed, resigning himself to his fate. “I doubt her father even asked her first. 

Katara gave him a really, really weird look as he awkwardly patted Aang’s back. 

“In the air nomads, she would have gotten a choice. And Katara could learn to fight!” Aan- The _Avatar_ piped up. Letting go of Zuko with a righteous indignation that was almost good. 

A little practice with the stomping and he would be pretty good at being angry, Zuko thought. Maybe some monologue practice. 

“What’s that supposed to-” Zuko began asking. 

“ _Spirits_ , don’t get me started on Pakku.” Katara was suddenly very, very angry. “OH, I can’t fight because I’m a _girl_ , sure! Guess I’ll go heal!” 

“He’s denying you training? How does he expect you to defend yourself if you can’t even fight-” 

“Exactly!” Katara punched her sleeping bag. 

“That’s illegal in some cases in the Fire Nation. Our women have as much right to power as our men.” 

“What about the neithers?” The Avatar spoke up. 

“. . .Huh?” Zuko regarded him with a mildly confused look. 

“The neithers! The free spirits that weren’t bound by gender! A lot of great airbenders were free like that- their gender would fly with the wind leaving them to achieve freedom. I thought about it, but I really think I’m a guy. So I’m sticking to that. I knew someone once who changed their gender all the time-” 

“What would you even call a neither?” Sokka asked. “Like, he or she?”

“They or them, usually. And if you weren’t sure. Most us were bald anyways, so it wasn’t a big deal, but it’s a part of the soul-” 

“That’s really fascinating, actually.” Sokka hummed. “No, that’s super cool. PEople can just change their gender! That’s cool.” 

“I- Does the modern world not have people like that?” The Avatar looked really confused. 

“They do.” Zuko piped up. “Uh. . . they’re not super kindly regarded in the Fire Nation, but I think they’re cool. Like, it’s their energy, why should it matter to us whether they’re male or female, you know? The. . . Neither thing is new, though. Must have been an air nomad thing.” 

Katara was giving him that weird look again.


	13. Endless Devotion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko goes to the council meeting, and after Katara's duel, a shocking truth comes out!

Zuko accompanied Aand and Katara to the council the next day, now swaddled in a proper (unfortunately, blue) set of arctic clothes, to talk to them about making Pakku teach her and Aang again after they had snuck out to practice the night before. In Zuko’s opinion, Pakku was gross. He looked like a- like a penguin otter with a receding hairline. 

There was a reason Zuko wasn’t doing the speaking. 

Yue sat to one side of her father, stoic as she would be in any such situation. Zuko wished he were a little boy again, so they could make faces at each other without the notice of the council and make eachother shake with laughter. 

He was getting rather angry, though, at the six council members that were actually the worst. The conversation was going very poorly in their favor, and they were talking down to Katara mercilessly. 

“I have a feeling Master Pakku might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologise.” The Chief ground out. 

“That is nonsense,” Zuko finally snapped, quiet enough that it was almost to himself. 

“Excuse me, young man?” The Chief finally turned his attention to Zuko. He was sitting so far above him that he seemed to tower over him with ire, the way the Fire Lord might from his throne behind a wall of flames. Some things didn’t change between rulers. 

“I said, Chief, that this is nonsense.” He spoke as levelly as he could, even if he was angry. 

“Zuko-” The Avatar began. 

“You’re denying a powerful waterbender service because of a matter that she cannot control. If Katara had been born a man, you would have taken her. What changes with her gender?” Zuko demanded, keeping a tight lid on his flame. It wouldn’t help if he lost his temper enough to firebend. 

“And Katara taught herself how to start healing and how to start fighting and she does both in balance.” Aang added. 

“If she already knows,” Pakku began to sneer down. 

“Teaching herself a set of moves all by herself is not the same as being taught. It’s impressive the amount that she learned, but one cannot breathe fire off of one set of katas.” 

There was a moment of universal confusion. 

“A kata is a beginning set of firebending moves meant to be performed together,” He explained bashfully, and most everyone gave a nod of understanding. 

“Well, I appreciate your universal wisdom, boy.” Pakku was stony-faced as always. “But it doesn’t change my mind. Maybe if the girl apologises like the chief said, I might agree to take the Avatar back.” 

“. . . No.” Katara finally spoke up. “No way, am I going to apologise to a sour old man like _you_!” She cracked the ice behind her and broke the pots of water. 

Zuko firmly approved of this action and nodded assentingly, not that Katara saw. 

“I’ll be outside if you’re man enough to fight me.” 

Maybe the waterbender wasn’t so bad. 

“I’m sure she didn’t mean that.” The Avatar soothed the council, who were in different states of shock. 

“Oh she meant it. Think about it, Aang. The strongest waterbending teacher in the tribe either beats up a young woman, or he backs away like a coward.” Zuko shrugged. “She’s smarter than Pakku would ever give her credit for.” 

“Yeah, she means it.” Sokka added. Aang grimaced and turned to follow her. Sokka and Zuko started walking. 

“And you look like a greasy penguin otter!” Zuko yelled over his shoulder at Pakku. He was pretty sure he heard Yue trying her best not to laugh.  
\-------------------------------------------

Aang struggled to keep up with Katara who was taking off her parka. 

“Are you crazy, Katara? You’re not gonna win this fight!” Sokka tried to explain, but he got slammed in the face by a parka. 

“I don’t care!” 

“You don’t have to do this for me!” Aang pleaded, trying to fall in step with her. 

“I’m not doing it for you! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!” She snapped. 

“Yeah. This is an honor thing.” Added Zuko. 

“Exactly.” She snapped. Aang had never watched anybody be so angry about agreeing with another person. 

Aang watched as people started staring as Katara worked herself up, radiating anger. He was worried- violence wouldn’t solve anything! Why would she challenge him to a duel?! Was she finally going crazy? 

“Zuko, if I go down, set that idiot on fire for me.” Katara snapped at Zuko. 

“Will do. Beat you’re gonna kick ass, though. You’re scary when you’re mad.” 

Katara made what could have been a smile. Zuko made what also could have been a smile. 

“So you finally decided to show up!” Katara snapped, and Aang turned in time to watch as Pakku walked right past her. 

“Go back to the healing huts with the other women,” He dismissed vaguely. Aang winced. That was the wrong answer. 

Katara water whipped him, and Aang wished Pakku hadn’t deserved it quite so much. \

\-------------------------------------------

Agni, Zuko prayed he never pissed off Katara enough to make her pull any of that on him as he watched Katara let loose on Pakku. 

Pakku returned it in kind, of course, but Katara hadn’t been classically trained at all and Pakku had probably like, 60 years on her. 

He finally trapped her in ice, and Zuko noticed with some anger that he’d picked up Katara’s Mother’s necklace. 

“I carved this sixty years ago for the love of my life.” He got all sad, and the ice around Katara melted. 

“You were engaged to Gran-Gran?” She took hesitant steps towards him. 

“I thought Kanna and I would spend a long life together. . .” 

“But she didn’t love you.” 

“She knew you’d trap her in the same prejudiced expectations as every other woman in this city.” Zuko spoke up. 

Katara froze for a second, as if she was about to yell at Zuko for speaking about her grandmother. 

“. . . You’re right.” Pakku almost wilted. “She would never have let me tell her to go to the healing huts.” 

“If you knew she felt that way-” 

“I didn’t. I thought- I thought something horrible happened. I never went after another girl.” He huffed a laugh. “No. Of course she left me.” 

There was a solid moment of silence, nobody sure what the hell to say to that. 

“Katara. . .” Pakku sighed, and held out the necklace. “Training starts at dawn. It’s the most I can do to make up to Kanna for driving her out of the North Pole.”

“And, and Aang. . . ?” Katara even stuttered, slowly reaching out and grabbing her necklace. 

“Of course. Of course.” He nodded. “I need to. . . I need to write a letter, I think.” 

He turned, and walked away. 

“Katara.” Zuko squared his shoulders, walking to her in the middle of the messed up plaza. 

“What do you-” 

Zuko bowed. 

“I’m sorry for making a statement about your grandmother to Pakku. I don’t know her, and it was disrespectful to assume the reason she left.” 

“I- Zuko stand up, Tui and La- Stupid- _don’t worry about it you’re fine you’re forgiven_!” She rushed out, and turned, hurrying away. Zuko stood up and nodded.   
His point had been conveyed. 

“Zuko!” His name was called out, and he stood up. Yue was jogging over. 

“Hey, Yue!” He waved, a smile summoned to his lips. 

“That was excellent!” She stopped just short and grinned. “You just told the whole council off! Right to their faces! For women’s rights!” She managed to work herself up enough to drape herself over him in a quick hug. 

“Yue!” A man snapped. Zuko felt Yue go rigid, sticking to him for just a moment before leaping away from him. 

“Hahn, I-” 

“Seriously? We talked about this. You know I don’t like you being that close to other men our age.” The man had a warrior’s build. And. . . he was definitely older than Yue by some years. And by the way he talked. . . 

“. . . _that’s_ your fiance?” Zuko asked, glancing at Yue, who’s tiny nod scared Zuko a little. 

“What of it? You trying to steal her, scarface?” Hahn asked, stalking over to Yue and scooping her into a _really_ protective side hug. 

“Hahn!” She snapped, lightly tapping his arm. He didn’t pay attention. 

“Stop talking about her like a possession.” Zuko made a disgusted face. “She’s a person, dude.” 

“She’s a girl. _My_ girl.” Hahn sneered back. God, Zuko wanted to give him a matching scar to his own.   
“Oh, yeah sure.” Zuko rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. “You can’t just claim her like that because you’re engaged.” He insisted. 

“And why not, tough guy?” 

“I- uh- because-” Zuko knew that he couldn’t let this go in a loop again. “Because. . .” 

“Yeah?” 

“Because I’m in love with her!” Zuko burst out. 

\-------------------------------------------

Sokka was drenched and his jaw was on the floor. 

He just heard the fire prince tell the fiance of Sokka’s dream girl that he was in love with her. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” This Hahn poser looked like he was about to get goddamn _aggressive_.

“I- It’s true! Since I was five! Ask Yue. The first time I saw her, I called her beautiful like fresh fallen snow.” 

Seriously?! That was (why didn’t Sokka think of that line?) so sappy!

Yue was quiet in that jerk's hold. 

“I wrote to her every time I could when I was home and spent every moment I could by her side looking at ice sculptures together.”

Zuko looked almost constipated as he verbally vomited his admissions of love. Sokka watched as Yue pushed herself from Hahn’s arm and practically glided dramatically across the space to attach to Zuko’s side in an affectionate way, tears beading at her eyes. 

“It’s true, Hahn. I kept every letter. I love him.” She stated, the tears in her voice. 

The look on Hahn’s face was so, so funny. 

“Why didn’t you say anything? Where were you when we got engaged?! Started dating?!” He insisted to Zuko. 

“I got lost.” He turned his head away, closing his eyes. “My family thought I was dead. I couldn’t get word to Yue that I was still alive. It broke my heart, but I came all the way to the North to propose.” 

Whoa, he sounded so. . . genuinely upset. 

“We didn’t want to burden our parents. Zuzu’s a firebender, and I a Water Tribe princess. . .” Yue bit back tears, placing a gloved hand on Zuko’s chest and squeezing the fabric. “It would have only hurt them.” 

“ _Zu Zu_?!” Hahn looked a little pale. Sokka was about equally as pale. 

“Hahn. . . I wanted to love you. But Zuko returned, and i just-” She sniffled, and continued a choked voice.. “I can’t let him go again.” 

“Don’t worry, Yue. I won’t ever leave you again.” Zuko placed a hand on Yue’s hand, pressing his nose to her hair. “Never again,” he promised softly. 

God, Yue was more romantically wrapped up than Sokka was. But he supposed that would make sense. . . She was such a catch, of course men would be fighting over her. 

“But- She- she’s mine- Her father-” 

“Yue, if your father doesn’t approve. . .” Zuko placed a gentle hand on her cheek, tilting her head up so they could lock eyes. “Run away with me. We’ll find somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. I’ll- I’ll build you a house myself. It won’t be any palace, but I could make you my queen. . .” 

Sokka was about to be sick as he heard Aang sniffle. 

“Of course.” Yue brought up both hands to hold Zuko’s face. “I would love that.” 

“You- you-” Hahn fumed. “You bastard! Fight me, tomorrow at dawn! Bend or don’t bend, I don’t give a damn. Meet me here. Fight me for her love!” 

“She could never love you,” Zuko sneered at Hahn, still holding Yue’s cheek. 

“ _JUST FIGHT ME TOMORROW, DAMN YOU!_ ” The man roared, and stomped off. 

It took about ten seconds for Hahn to be out of sight before Zuko nodded. 

“Let’s go to the cabin. Sokka, Aang, come on.” He dropped his hands and Yue smiled. He put a hand on her shoulder, and they began walking. Sokka needed to be poked by Aang four times before he started moving. 

(Was it the fact that Zuko had looked at Yue like that or the fact that Sokka thought he looked _way too good_ looking all lovestruck like that that bothered the hell out of Sokka?) 

\-------------------------------------------

Once they got through the door and closed it behind them, Yue broke down into hysterical laughter, and Zuko followed suit. She was squeaking and clinging to his shoulder to prevent her from falling over. Sokka looked super confused, and Aang did as well. 

Zuko doubled over, holding his stomach. 

“He bought it!” He wheezed. “Yue, can you believe he bought that?!” 

Yue couldn’t answer, she’d gotten to the stage of laughing where it was just silent tremors in a ghost of a laugh that you can’t get out anymore. 

“Hold on, hold on, what the fuck?!” Sokka finally managed to get out. 

“. . . Oh my god.” Aang put two hands over a shocked, open-mouthed smile. 

“What?!” Sokka asked, looking like he was about to shake Aang for answers. “What?!?!?”

“Sokka, they just punked everyone in the water tribe.” Aang’s voice was a whisper of reverence. “They just pranked _literally everyone_.” 

Sokka. . . Sokka fell on the floor. Yue wiped a tear from her eye and tried to ask if he was alright, but a new wave of laughter bubbled over her. 

“What’s going on in here?” Katara had come in at some point. “Why is my brother on the floor? . . . Why are those guys laughing?”

Zuko managed to pull himself together. 

“You just missed me and Yue acting like long-lost lovers in front of her shitty fiance.” 

“You did _what_?!” Katara’s jaw dropped. 

“Katara, it was legendary!” Aang hissed, breezing over to her and tugging on her sleeve. “They cried and everything!” 

“You can _act_?!” Katara asked Zuko incredulously. 

“. . . Well.” He suddenly got very embarrassed and tried not to think about the scrolls upon scrolls of plays and the time he’d spent monologuing in the shower. 

“I didn’t know I could act like that,” Yue gasped. “Zuko, did you see his face?!” 

“It was great,” He grinned. Yue suddenly got very serious. 

“Oh, Tui and La. You have to fight Hahn now.” She got pale. 

“What, is he tough?” Zuko asked. 

“He’s my fathers most favored warrior.” 

“. . . Hey, Katara?” Zuko turned to the waterbender, who was speechless. “Do you have any clue where my swords ended up?”

“Oh! Oh! I know!” Aang jumped up. “But. . . why aren’t you gonna firebend?” 

“Think about it.” Zuko cracked his knuckles idly. “If I firebend, I’m defeating him with an unfair advantage. He’s a nonbender, right, Yue?” 

“Yeah.” She nodded. 

“Then I want to beat him in melee combat. I’ll look better, and more deserving of my darling Yue’s hand.” He made a sweeping bow to her, and she began laughing again. 

“Oh, _Zuko_ , so chivalrous.” She swooned in return. 

Sokka groaned something that sounded a lot like “end me” into the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT what do you guys think lmao?! This is one of those ideas I had and screeched and NEEDED to write out.


	14. A Lesson In Badassery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ARE YOU RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREADY TU RUUUMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE???????

If Iroh has been a much more nervous man, he might have been shaking as he sent the messenger bird off. It would head due south, first, before looping back around and finding Zuko at its earliest convenience. 

And for everyone’s sake, he hoped Zuko found the letter before the fire flew. 

“Sending a letter, General Iroh?” Zhao’s oily voice intruded on Iroh’s blessed moment of rest. 

If he’d been a much more nervous man, he might have jumped. 

“Yes.” He nodded, straightening up to turn and face the younger man. “We might be at war, but I still have manners to attend to elsewhere.” 

“And you’re not concerned about that hawk being tracked?” Zhao quirked an eyebrow. 

“It’s trained to circle before it's seen. You of all men should know, Zhao, being that they’re on your own ship.” He began walking to where Zhao stood in the doorway. 

“I. . . suppose that’s true.” 

“Besides, it’s just headed back to the fire nation. You wouldn’t cut an old man off from his home land, would you?” Iroh clasped a hand on Zhao’s shoulder, like he might have Zuko’s if Zuko liked to be touched at all. 

The difference, of course, was that he heated his hand and squeezed. Just to remind Zhao that a tamed dragon is still a dragon, even if it is not trying to kill him in that moment. 

Hmm. He might refine that into a proverb to throw at Zuko.

\-------------------------------------------

The next day, there was a crowd. And a schedule. 

Sokka was going to look out for Hahn a few streets down, and when he saw him, haul ass to go get Zuko, and Aang would send the signal for Yue. Zuko would show up a few minutes before Hahn, Yue would show up right before the fight started to beg Hahn not to hurt Zuko and/or wish Zuko a tearful good luck. 

Sokka approved of the drama, honestly. Now that he knew it was fake, and neither Zuko nor Yue were romantically involved! Or- no that wasn’t right- _involved with each other_ , was what he meant. Because he was after Yue, and not the very pretty man that had ended up on Team Avatar. 

And alright, sure, Zuko was pretty, like- like a chick! Sokka only liked him because he was aesthetically pleasing in a feminine way. Right? Yeah. And either way he was over thinking it, because he was NOT about to be making googly eyes at a male firebender- and- and especially not a male firebender who’d hunted them in the past. It was Dumbassery, of the Highest Order.

Either way, he was in the middle of stretching, and breathing, because he needed to haul like he’d never hauled before. Not even Boomerang could help with this- this was Sokka’s pure athleticism at work, honed by years being the only guy in the village. 

. . . Well, the women did a lot of the hunting, too, but. . . 

_”Sokka, don’t you want help?” One of his Aunties- though she wasn’t really his aunt, but she was his mom’s friend when she was- well, she had been one of his mom’s close friends, so that was the same thing- gently asked._

_“No. I can get it,” Sokka grunted, pushing a heavy pack into the sled._

_“It’s dangerous to go out all alone.” She reminded him._

_“It’s just the cold and some predator animals. I’ll be fine, and I’ll only be gone a few days, and I’ll come back with plenty of meat, I promise.” He rambled, strapping the pack down. “Don’t worry, Auntie. I’m basically an adult, and-”_

_“Sokka, dear. You’re not even fifteen yet. Come on, stay inside. You can come when the other women organize a trip. We’ll even let you drive your own sled.”_

_“I can drive my own sled right now, because I’m a man and I’m going to do man’s work, Auntie. Dad said to protect the village. I can do it.”_

_“. . . Please be careful, Sokka. Please.”_

_“I will Auntie. Don’t worry.”_

_He pretended he didn’t like the hug she’d given him._

No, he really thought different now. Seriously. It seemed like everyone in the world other than him and the old farts in this city were on board with women and men not being different. 

And hell if he was agreeing with Hahn the Slimeball or the greasy penguin otter, so he was working on adjusting his worldview. And also because women have been kicking his ass since Kyoshi island, so yeah, women could be good at fighting, and if he wasn’t good with that, he was pretty sure he’d get fucking decked. 

Oh, hey. Speaking of getting decked. 

There was Hahn, with a spear, and a helmet, and not much else. Poor bastard. 

Except not really. Fuck that guy. For real.

Sokka turned, snuck away from his vantage point, and broke out into a dead sprint. 

“Zuko, go on out, he’s on his way,” Sokka panted. “I think I broke a limb.” 

“Thanks, Sokka. I’ll buy you lunch or something afterwards.” Zuko promised, patting Sokka on the shoulder. 

“Bastard,” He wheezed. 

“Thanks again!” 

And the fire bastard was gone. 

\-------------------------------------------

Father had not been pleased. 

“You promised not to- I can’t believe you made a scene like that!” 

“You’re not even mad about Zuko?” She asked cooly, raising an eyebrow. 

“OF COURSE I’M-” He’d sucked in a deep breath. “Yue, why didn’t you ever tell me? Or your mother?” 

“You would have let me love him? A firebender? Let’s be honest, father, you had Hahn hand picked ever since he started kicking snow castles down.” She’d never. . . rebelled, before. This attitude was new. 

Maybe her parents would have been right. Maybe Zuko was a bad influence on her. 

Not that she minded all that much.

And she decided, as well, that she wasn’t lying exactly. She did love Zuko. He was her dearest friend, the only other person her age that could possibly understand her position as an heir to a throne. The Earth Kingdom had many kings, but the Water Tribe and Fire Nation had one ruler. And one heir. And Zuko was good, and funny, and had a way of settling her and grounding her. 

Who else would she even fathom falling in fake-love with? (And this thought almost sent her into another giggling fit).

“. . . Why him, of all people? And- and how did you even meet?!” 

“It doesn’t matter, father-” 

“The report was that you met when you two were five, right?” 

Yue fell dead silent. 

“. . . Dear, what was the name of Ozai’s son, do you remember?” Yue’s mother finally spoke up. 

And Chief Arnook’s weathered face went pale. 

“You’re in a relationship with the fire prince?” He hissed. 

Yue flinched, and it was only half acting. 

“You- with-with Ozai’s son?! Zuko the _Fire Prince_?” He ran his hands through his hair, managing to tug his locks out of his wolftail. 

“He understands me, father. And he’s kind. Much kinder than the rest of his family. Did your report tell you that he offered to elope with me if you didn’t approve?” She demanded. “Did it?” 

“I-”

“I thought it was silly at first. I thought, no, my father is a good and kind man. He’d understand where my heart led me, and he’d agree to meeting Zuko, to calling off the engagement.” She paused, looking at her father in an angry disgust that wasn’t any acting at all. “I suppose I was wrong to have thought that.” 

“Yue, he could be dangerous. What if Ozai set him up to-” 

“At what, five years old, father? You think a five year old would agree to court a girl he’d never met before just to bring down a neutral territory in the north? One he’d been thinking about allying with anyways? Just look past your hatred!” Tears were unbidden at her eyes. “Maybe I will run away with Zuko. He’d obviously give me more freedom than you.” 

And she stomped off to her chambers, not letting Chief Arnook reply to her. 

And now it was the next morning, and she was ready, her hair tied up and dressed, and the Avatar was at her window. 

“Hey Yue.” He waved. 

“Hello, Aang.” She smiled back. “Do I look distressed enough?” She asked. She’d done her makeup just wrong enough that it didn’t make her look unhinged, but it got across that she was worried enough not to have done it perfectly. 

“Mm, maybe tug out one hair loop just a bit so it’s asymmetrical.” Aang suggested. She grinned, turning and tugging on her hair. 

“You’re a little genius, Aang.” She paid him a compliment, and then finally nodded. “Well, I do believe it’s time for my appearance.” 

“Good luck!” He grinned, and flew away as she opened her door and blazed past her guards in the run of a heartbroken girl. 

She’d, um. . . She watched a lot of plays. 

They called out to her, but she ran faster, and they had learned a long time ago that they couldn’t quite stop her anyways. 

\-------------------------------------------

The crowd cheered for Zuko when he showed up, tugging off his parka to expose the undershirt of his earth kingdom outfit. It made his arms look better, in his opinion, and appearances were imperative here. He had Aang- Who’d flown in- give him his swords. 

And then it was a matter of waiting. 

The crowd seemed familiar- probably a lot of the same people from the day before. But as Zuko was beginning to lament, he heard the crowd go still, and a slight struggle, as Hahn appeared on the scene, shoving some spectators out of the way. 

“. . . Just a helmet?” Zuko asked, genuinely confused. 

“I won’t need any protection from a little reed like you,” Hahn insisted. 

“. . . I mean. . . Zuko’s pretty muscley-” Aang began, but raised his hands in surrender at the snarl he received. 

“Then, should we get started?” Zuko asked, pulling his swords from his sheath and separating them. His dual broadswords, the extensions of his arms that he had learned to wield under the deck of an old battle steamer. 

“What, you’re not going to use your bending?” 

“I believe a non bender should be fought in his own element.” Zuko shrugged. “In the Fire Nation, we have honor. Nothing you might know of, I’d assume, Hahn.” 

“You are not an honorable people!” HAhn yelled, slamming the butt of his spear into the ground.

“You will regret saying that,” Zuko muttered quietly. “First move to you, Hahn.” He sneered. “Make it a good one, please.” 

“ _WAIT!_ ” Yue cried, struggling through the crowd on the bridge, her hair slightly out of place and makeup ever so slightly mussed up, out of breath just a little bit. 

“Yue!” Zuko inhaled, pure joy on his face. _Just imagine it’s the first time you’ve seen her in years,_ he’d thought, and the breathless joy pulled itself to his face. 

It was just a matter of amplifying already-felt emotions, he knew. 

“Don’t start yet,” She begged, descending the stairs quickly, holding her skirt and running to Zuko’s end of the square. She looped her arms around his neck. 

“You don’t have to do this for me.” She nearly whispered. 

“I do, Yue. You know I do.” He put a hand on her cheek. 

This. . . was this a real conversation or the acting? 

“Please, Zuko. Don’t get hurt.” 

“I don’t want to leave you with scum like him. You deserve so much more.” 

“STOP HIDING BEHIND THE WOMAN AND FACE ME!” Hahn yelled, like an oversized toddler. 

“You’re better than I could ask for.” Yue leaned in and kissed his cheek, stopping while pulling away to whisper, “get him in the balls for me, at least once. And seriously, don’t get hurt.” 

“Of course, princess.” Zuko smiled, trying to disguise it as love instead of a nefarious grin. He kissed her forehead. “Now stand off to the side. Cheer for me!” He gently pushed her and she waved as she returned to the bridge to watch. 

\-------------------------------------------

Yue wouldn’t lie. Zuko looked good fighting. 

And. . . judging by the way Sokka was watching? Sokka thought too.

Zuko dodged every stab Hahn started with, calm and cool, not even using his swords at first. He rolled, leaned, got behind him, for a few angonizing seconds before managing to roll in such a way that he sprung up behind Hahn and swept his legs out. A cheer went up, but Yue knew that wasn’t it. 

Hahn went down, and Zuko struck with both swords near his head. 

Hahn rolled back to his feet and began an assault with his spear, which Zuko began deflecting with his swords. 

He moved like a waterbender, deadly and graceful, shifting his weight and balancing his swords. It was like a dance, one which Hahn was sorely unskilled at. 

She’d seen him spar, too- he was a good fighter. Normally he could dodge and roll and deflect and strike as much as Zuko, but right now Zuko was driving him up and down the courtyard, twin swords flashing in the arctic sun. She cheered for him, every once and a while. 

And, spirits, when had the innocent, squishy boy she’d known begun a deadly master of swords? He’d hardly understood the concept of snowballs, let alone twin broadswords. And now. . . here he was. So young, to be such a master of death, she thought. 

She cursed this war, cursed these palaces, for forcing them to grow up so absurdly fast. They should still be children- only sixteen. They should be sneaking liquor and having adventures. 

But instead, Zuko was fighting a man that was several years older than him, in mortal danger of being stabbed, in her name, because that man was her fiance. 

“Conceed her hand!” Zuko yelled, and the crowd cheered, as he and Hahn circled each other. “Admit you’ve lost and I won’t hurt you!” 

“I haven’t lost!” Yelled Hahn, giving another violent charge.

Wrong action. 

Hahn was tripped, and Zuko pinned him, both swords at his throat. 

“I said surrender her hand. Take the necklace back, and never talk to Yue again.” He growled. 

“You-” Hahn struggled for a moment, but the steel pressed so slightly further down. 

“Think. Carefully. Is this the hill you want to die on?!” 

“. . . Fine.” Hahn slumped, and Zuko nodded, withdrawing his swords and standing once more. He turned to the crowd, arms raised in victory as theft cheered for the triumph of a love they’d accepted, but Hahn was on his feet, and-

“Zuko!” Yue screamed, and Zuko turned just in time to get the butt of a spear knocking into his noise. 

The crunch was sickening. The thud that followed as Zuko fell on the ground wasn’t much better. 

“Zuko!” She screamed again, and ran into the plaza, shoving her body between Zuko and Hahn. 

“Get out of the w-” 

“DON’T YOU DARE,” She screamed, “DON’T YOU _DARE_ TOUCH HIM!” 

“Yue-” 

“You’re a dishonorable monster,” She sobbed, and reached to the betrothal necklace around her neck. 

It was almost funny how the silk ribbon came apart so easily under her angered grasp. 

She threw the necklace back in his face.. 

“I would _never_ marry you. You-You- You _sick bastard _! I won’t let you touch me EVER AGAIN! GET AWAY FROM ZUKO AND I!”__

__Her angered screams earned Hahn jeers. And he began to step away, almost afraid._ _

__A snowball was thrown. A woman summoned a ball of water from the newly repaired pools, obviously looking in his way threateningly._ _

__And Hahn exited her life._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god I hate writing action scenes oof- 
> 
> How'd I do?
> 
> Oh also, I started an ATLA Tumblr @cabbageguyrights, if y'all wanna visit me there I mostly post head canons but I might start doing chapter illustrations :3


	15. Treason! Treason For EveryBody II: The Treasoning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's another heart-to-heart, and Zuko starts committing some more treason, as a Crown Prince would do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had something so say and I Fucking Forgot and I'm Very Sorry

“Yue-” Zuko croaked, sitting up. 

He’d only been out for a moment, but Yue was there, which was super weird, and-

“Careful, idiot.” Her hands flitted around him, like she was unsure what to do. 

“I’m alright,” Zuko waved a hand at her hands, and she made a sputtering noise. 

“Zuko!” Aang was running up now. “Oh, _ew_.” His whole face wrinkled up. 

“How bad is it?” Zuko asked, reaching up to touch his nose, which was pretty much numb at the moment. 

Yue slapped his hand down. 

“It’s gross. He uh, _really_ got you. That’s really gross. Hey Katara?” he called over his shoulder. 

“What’s u- oh god, that’s gross.” Katara made a face, but began waterbending. “I’m not even sure if I can heal-” 

“That’s alright, dear, I can get it.” An older woman, taller than what Zuko would measure as average height around here, placed a hand on Katara’s shoulder and opened her other hand. 

Zuko watched as Katara nodded and passed the water to the woman. 

“Your name is Zuko, right?” She asked as she brought her hand up, encased in water- ( _His father, standing over him, a hand full of fire_ -) and he stayed as still as he could and closed his eyes as she began healing him. It was gentle and cold, but not nearly as freezing as Zuko would assume it would be.

He jerked as the pain hit him, but it began ebbing away. 

“Hahn landed a solid hit. It’s broken, but that’s nothing I haven’t healed before.” She spoke soothingly, and Zuko managed to think that she must be a professional healer. 

She was a lot nicer than the Fire Nation healers he’d been to. 

“No concussion, which is good, but you should rest a little bit for posterity.” She continued, and the gentle cold sensation left. Zuko opened his eyes and gingerly touched his nose. 

“. . . Thank you, ma’am.” He looked up at her. She just- she just fixed a broken nose with no grabbing it and slamming it back into place, or any bruising, or anything. 

“Of course. It’s nice to see young men standing up for ladies around here.” She offered him a hand, which he took and she helped drag him to his feet. 

“I- I don’t have anything to pay you with,” He informed her, regretfully. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” She laughed. “Just consider it a gift for the happy couple. I doubt Princess Yue would love for your pretty face to be ruined after all that. Have a nice day!” She waved, and walked away. 

Yue laughed, only a little, but she hugged Zuko. 

“You did it.” She spoke into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, smiling gently. This was nice. 

She broke away from him and slugged him in the shoulder. 

“Ouch!” It hadn’t hurt that much, but it hadn’t been expected. 

“You got hurt AND you didn’t kick him!” 

“I couldn’t, it would have made me look bad, and he snuck up on me-” 

“I was worried!” She squeak-shouted. “Don’t scare me like that again! Seriously! He could’ve- what if he’d hurt you worse!” 

“. . .Then the nice woman would have had to heal me more?” 

This earned him another punch and then a tight hug. 

“. . . Come on. Let’s go do something else. And where is my coat?” Zuko spoke up, after a moment, gently patted Yue. She was huggy. 

Zuko didn’t mind that. 

It took some shaking to get everyone to go on ahead, and let Zuko just hang out with Yue. No offense to Team Avatar, but Zuko really hadn’t seen Yue in years except for the past few days and wanted to just to feel like a person instead of an act. 

And that was nice, because now they were sitting on a rooftop, just calm, and the city was sprawling and the boats were moving and people were living, and it was almost like the view from the Palace rooftop, except Zuko wasn’t being shouted at by servants to please get down Prince Zuko, it’s dangerous up there. 

So it was nicer. 

“I. . . should probably tell you about what happened, right?” He asked eventually. 

“What happened when?” She looked over. 

“When I stopped talking to you.” 

“Ah. I already told you, Zuko, you don’t owe me that story.” 

“But I kind of do, right?” She opened her mouth to argue, but he kept talking. “It’s not like it’s healthy for me not to tell my best friend what my life’s been like for three years. I mean, I never even sent you a messenger hawk.”

“I don’t think Fire Nation messenger hawks can deal with the cold for that long,” She muttered gently, making his excuses for him.

“Probably not, but. . . I didn’t try that hard, you know? And I just happened to be lucky enough to come to the North and meet you again. It’s just luck that I get to be friends with you again, and-” 

“Zuko, I would have been friends with you even if you managed to drag yourself up here in sixty years.” She interrupted. “Whatever happened was really bad, obviously. And you’ll open up in your own time.” 

Zuko nodded slowly, and they sat quietly. 

“Father banished me.” He finally spoke. “I spoke out at a war meeting, and just like that, I was out of the palace.” 

“Oh.” Yue’s response was. 

“My Uncle Iroh came with me, after- well, after. He got us a ship. Father said. . . he wanted me to find the Avatar and bring him to him. That was three years ago.” 

“But at the time he was just a myth.” Yue’s face crinkled in concern. Zuko stared out past the city’s wall. 

“I spent a month, or maybe two, hunting Aang once he reemerged. And then a general- or, well, he’s an admiral, now- captured him. He was going to bring him to my Father and ruin my chances of going home. So I busted him out of jail, but leaving- Aang saved me. After I screwed up getting out of the fort. And I joined them, because I thought that I could bring Aang back to Father easier if I infiltrated them.” 

It felt so good to admit that. 

“. . . And now?” Yue asked, gently. 

“And now I don’t know what to do. I hadn’t ever thought about my father’s orders so much in my life, Yue. I want to believe- I want to know that he sent me out here because he believed in me, and that he wants me home, and I just don’t know that. But now, I've been travelling with the Avatar, and I just don’t know if I could bring him in if I tried.”

And as the thought flowed from his more, he realized how much he’d started melting truth with lie, how much doubt and how many questions he’d been quietly working his way through all this time. He couldn’t remember sitting down and thinking about this. When had he suddenly reached the point where he couldn’t bear to think about what his Father might do if he got his hands on Sokka and Aang and Katara. Had it been the northern air temple? Had that been it? Had it been because he no longer had the very option to go home? Or because he was just that much of a traitor now? 

And he was a traitor, now, wasn’t he? He’d doubted the Fire Lord so much, and he was travelling with public enemy number one, and he’d helped stop an attack at that temple. 

Yue pulled an arm around Zuko’s shoulder and pulled him closer. And that was about when he’d noticed that he’d been crying. 

“It’s hard, to go against everything you know like that.” She spoke, quietly. “But I’ve heard rumors from now and again, that the Fire Nation has been doing bad things to the south. I think that if you doubt the actions of your country, that doesn’t make you bad. I think you really want what’s best for the Fire Nation.” 

“I do. But is that really killing Aang? Is that really what it takes?” 

“I think you know the answer to that.” 

And he did. But he didn’t like it. 

“. . . I have a birthright to the crown. I have a duty to my people. How am I supposed to serve that duty from banishment?” 

“I don’t know, Zuko.” Yue sighed, rubbed her hand up and down his shoulder. It was nice, just to have the physical reassurance. “Have you tried asking Aang? Or Sokka? They can help you think of something. I doubt Aang’s plan involves wiping the Fire Nation off the map.” 

“. . . They don’t know.” 

“Don’t know. . . which part?” 

“The banishment part. Or the infiltration part. Or the doubts part. Aang knows that I just didn’t want to kill him, and that was technically the truth at the time. I didn’t want to kill him, but I was going to hand him to Father, and Father wouldn’t spare him. 

Father wouldn’t spare the Avatar if Father hadn’t spared him. 

“You should probably come clean.” 

Zuko shot up. 

“What?! I- I can’t do that, Yue, are you nuts? Katara would kill me! Like, serious, ice dagger in my chest, murder.” 

“She wouldn’t-” 

“You should have seen the way she was looking at me. She would, Yue, if she thought it would keep Sokka and Aang safe. I can’t just come clean, they’d never understand!” He didn’t want to be shaking. He didn’t want the idea of Aang’s anger to scare him. He didn’t want to be afraid of this. 

“Zuko, do you really think you can just shrug this all off and pretend nothing happened? I hate to be the person to tell you this, but if the truth come out and it’s not you telling them, it’s going to be a lot worse.” 

Zuko was shaking, and didn’t want to be talking about this. 

“I can’t- they’ll- they’ll be so angry, and I’ll- they’ll get rid of me- they won’t let me be around anymore, and I won’t have anything left, and I won’t be able to go home _or_ help the Avatar, and I won’t be able to forgive myself if- if- I don’t even know what! Yue, I don’t even know what I want!” He was shaking so much worse than he should be, and he was so afraid. He wanted his uncle to be here, to tell him what was right, to- to even say a dumb proverb or something, anything! Yue was just a kid, like him, and even if she was smart and good, it wasn’t like she knew everything. 

Yue took his shaking hands in her’s. 

“I can’t tell you how to fix all of this.” She said, softly. “And for that, I am sorry. But no matter what happens, I want you to know that I’m behind you. If you want my help explaining to them what has happened, I will. And if it goes poorly, I will support you then, too. I can’t tell you if it will all be okay or not, but I will tell you that I am always going to be here for you.”

And Zuko cries more, but that’s okay, because Yue’s going to be there when he’s alright again. 

\-------------------------------------------

Yue is still letting Zuko cry when the shivering, bright-red messenger hawk comes beaming towards them. 

“Zuko, I- um, there’s a Fire Nation messenger hawk.” 

“What?!” He snapped up, and scrubbed at his face with a sleeve. The messenger Hawk landed on the edge of the barrier that prevented people from falling off the roof. He immediately scooped it up, and the poor thing leaned right into his warmth. It had been shivering. 

“It had better be important,” Zuko grumbled, opening the tube attached to the bird and then gently opening his coat and letting the bird inside. 

Yue hadn’t known he was good with animals. 

He spent a few moments reading the message, and then his eyes blew wide open. 

“Yue, Yue we need to talk to your father right now.” Said Zuko, as urgently as if he didn’t have a bird in his coat. “And I need to ask Katara something.” He added. 

When Zuko had finished his whole explanation in front of the council, with Yue sitting on it, there was grave silence. 

“They plan to. . . kill. . . the moon spirit?” One of the men asked slowly. 

“Yes, sir. Once again, I beg your forgiveness for my outburst on behalf of my friend yesterday and beg that it does nothing to affect your decision.” 

There was more silence. And Yue could tell that all of the council members were debating and calculating. 

Worse than that, her father was staring down Zuko. And Yue began to hope that her father wasn’t about to say something stupid. 

“Why are you warning us about this?” One of the others finally asked. “Aren’t you a Fire Nation citizen?” 

Zuko stiffened. “Sir, moving against this military action is not me doing what may harm my nation. If the Moon disappears from the sky, the tides disappear, and my people live on islands. I cannot allow Admiral Zhao to harm all the citizens of the world, even if he has the support of Firelord Ozai.” 

“So you support Firelord Ozai?” 

“. . . That has become a far more difficult question to answer as of late. But I will not hesitate to act against him if it means saving my people.” 

A murmur went up between the councilmen, and Chief Arnook looked especially surprised. 

“My contact said that they are about two days away from the capital at this time. I am fully willing to ask my contact any clarifying questions you may have, but I’m not sure how quickly I can get them to you.” 

Yue had to commend Zuko’s ability to make himself seem as willing to cooperate as possible. He was laying almost everything he had on the table for the council to use. 

“. . . this is a disturbing revelation.” Chief Arnook sighed, rubbing his temples. “We request that you give us time to discuss this as a council, and thank you for this information.” 

“Of course, Chief.” Zuko bowed, and turned to exit the room. He would meet with Team Avatar, now. 

\-------------------------------------------

“Hey, guys! Zuko’s back!” Aang cheered, as Zuko opened the door, holding. . . a bird? 

“The Fire Nation is on it’s way.” He dropped, as if that was just a Thing one could say. 

“What?!” Katara jumped up. 

“The Fire Nation is launching a full scale invasion on the Northern Water Tribe, and the admiral in charge has a plan to kill the Moon Spirit.” He elaborated. “They’ll be here in two days. Oh- Katara, do you think you could figure out how to make a sweater for a bird?”


	16. The Northern Siege

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The siege is prepared for. Spirits are angered.

“Hey, guys! Zuko’s back!” Aang cheered, as Zuko opened the door, holding. . . a bird? 

“The Fire Nation is on it’s way.” He dropped, as if that was just a Thing one could say. 

“What?!” Katara jumped up. 

“The Fire Nation is launching a full scale invasion on the Northern Water Tribe, and the admiral in charge has a plan to kill the Moon Spirit.” He elaborated. “They’ll be here in two days. Oh- Katara, do you think you could figure out how to make a sweater for a bird?” 

“You’re prioritizing a bird sweater?!” Katara couldn’t believe it. Zuko was. . . why was he so weird???

“No, I said the invasion thing _twice_ before I asked about Ramen’s sweater.” Zuko defended, and let go of the bird (Ramen?) who hopped to go sit near the fire. 

“Is that a Fire Nation messenger hawk?” Sokka asked. He was also prioritizing the bird. Katara tried her best not to seethe. 

“Yes, and be grateful, because Ramen should have died and also got us our only warning about Zhao’s dumbass plan.” Zuko sniffed. 

“You have contact with the Fire Nation??” Katara demanded. “Why didn’t you-”

“My Uncle.” Zuko interrupted. “He’s my Uncle, and he’s a good man. If you hadn’t noticed, he warned the enemy about a surprise attack days ahead. And he’s concerned about me. So he sends letters sometimes.” 

Katara, unfortunately, couldn’t argue with that. 

“He’s infiltrated Zhao’s armada as a General and he managed to catch Zhao gloating about how he’s planning to kill the Moon Spirit. Which doesn't surprise me, Zhao is so completely the type of idiot that would gloat his plans away and get thwarted because he just had to go bragging.” Zuko huffed, and Katara was pretty impressed. That was a lot of trash talk for one guy. From the guy who continued to have weird flashes of personality between sulking sessions. 

“Your uncle sounds cool,” Aang pointed out, and Katara cursed his endless optimism. 

“How many ships are coming? How well armed are they? How are they going to kill the moon spirit? Have you informed the council? What are _they_ doing about it?” Katara bombarded him with questions. He set his mouth in a grumpy manner, which wasn’t fair because Katara had asked the important questions. 

“I went to talk to the council and they’re chatting about it right now. I just figured I should let you guys know, since we should probably leave-” 

“ _Leave_?” Katara interrupted. “And let the North get destroyed?” 

“Aang needs to get an earthbending teacher, right?” He frowned, like an idiot. 

“He hasn’t even trained more than a day yet, Zuko. We can’t just turn our backs on these people!” 

“Katara’s right. We’ve gotta help.” Sokka assisted. 

“. . . Yeah, it’s my duty as the Avatar to help these people and the moon spirit.” 

Zuko folded his arms. “Fine. But I’m not dying for the Water Tribe.” 

“Dying?” Sokka paled. “How many ships-” 

“Too many. Enough that it might be pointless to stay. We might not be able to help one more tragedy, but if Aang lives to fix all this, we’ll be preventing a lot more loss in the future. I warned the council, they should be able to protect the moon spirit-” 

“Zuko, we’re staying.” Aang insisted. “I know what you’re saying, but I wasn’t there when my people were killed. I’m going to make a difference this time.” 

Zuko nodded. “No, I understand. I just think it’s stupid.” 

. . . Katara marvelled at how much of a dick Zuko was sometimes. 

“Anyways, Uncle has no clue how Zhang plans to do it, only that he’s very serious.” Zuko warned. “So. . . ideas?” 

“I could seek out their location with people who know things in the Spirit World?” Aang suggested. “I’m the bridge between worlds, after all.” 

“Cool plan, Aang, but how are you going to get there.” 

“. . . Ah. Good point. I don’t know.” Aang frowned, slumping. 

“I can ask Yue if you think she’d know,” Zuko piped up. 

“Oh. Sure.” 

“Why does _he_ get to talk to Yue?” Sokka asked, sulking sulkily. 

“Do you want to come with?” 

“No!” 

Zuko looked confused. “Alright, man.” 

\-------------------------------------------

When Yue led the small group into the sanctuary, it was the evening. When Aang emerged, and told everybody where the ocean and moon spirits were, it was late enough that Zuko had needed to settle into an uneasy rest. 

Yue stared into the pond, at the moon and ocean spirits circling each other. And she felt at peace, and horribly ill at ease, all at once. 

\-------------------------------------------

Hahn is leading the whole Big Special Mission thing, and Sokka tries very hard to get along with this wounded-pride bastard. He corrects the uniform inaccuracies. Chief Arnook knows most of the other stuff already. 

But when he gets off his temper with Hahn for trash talking Zuko and Yue, Arnook separates them, and sends Sokka to go guard Yue. 

So he’s not too worried, anymore. Hahn can lead the special mission. 

\-------------------------------------------

The battle starts, and there are soldiers posted outside of the sanctuary. Aang, Zuko, Katara, Sokka and Yue are in the sanctuary. Yue rationalizes that she would be safer nowhere else, and her father agrees, so she’s waiting. Just waiting, with all of the people she’s begun to call her friends. 

Zuko’s been allowed one candle, which he meditates at relentlessly, the candle getting larger and smaller with each breath. He looks so tranquil. 

Yue can only wonder when he will not be tranquil anymore. 

\-------------------------------------------

Uncle arrives just as Zhao manages to batter through the door, while the moon is still high in the sky. Katara and Aang bend water in a furious attack at the man, and Zuko helps Uncle fend off the soldiers that accompanied Zhao. There is no time for a happy reunion, but they do fight back to back, and they kick ass. 

And they think they’ve won, for just a moment, when the firebenders stop coming, and now it’s just Zhao. 

It happens in one slight moment. 

He knows he’s not going to win, but he dives anyways. And the fireblast is just hot enough with fear and desperation, that Zuko watches the steam rise and hears Yue scream. Uncle unleashes fire on Iroh, and he flinches back, and Katara freezes him solid in a casing of ice, but it’s too late. 

With Zhao confined, everybody rushes to the pool. 

\-------------------------------------------

“It’s over,” Yue whispered, watching the moon swim only half right. It’s not dead, but it cannot push and pull the way it once could. It’s still alive, but impaired. It cannot hold the balance. Its partner tries to dance with it, and it tries to dance back, but it cannot. 

“Not. It’s not.” Spoke a million voices, and the Avatar began walking into the water. 

\-------------------------------------------

While the Ocean Spirit exacted its revenge, Yue was left to stare at the moon spirit, limply trying to swim its circle, to dance its dance, to push and pull. 

“The moon spirit saved me when I was weak and feeble.” She states, quietly. 

“You were touched by the moon spirit?” Zuko’s Uncle’s eyes widened, and he told her what needed to be said: That she gained life from the moon. 

And she understood. 

She reached out. 

Zuko and Sokka each caught her hands. 

“Yue! You can’t sacrifice yourself!” Sokka insists, wide eyed and scared. 

“Yue, please think. Is there any other way?” Zuko begged, quiet. 

“The moon can’t survive on its own. There is no other way. Please, please understand. 

There is only a moment of silence before Zuko nods, slowly. He pulls her into a hug. 

“I’ll miss you, Yue.” He speaks, voice not cracking. 

“I know. I’ll watch over you.” Yue tries to soothe, but he only squeezes her tighter. 

“Promise?” 

“Yeah. Of course.” 

He releases her, and Sokka blinks again. 

“Yue. . .” 

“Sokka, I’m sorry.” Yue closed her eyes. “I have a duty to my people. I have a life’s debt to repay.” 

Sokka grabbed her, and hugged her too. 

“I wish I could have gotten to love you,” He whispered, and Yue’s heart broke only a little bit as she squeezed him back. 

“And I wish I could have gotten to love you, too.” 

And when the hug was broken, it was her time to wade into the wade, her skirt floating weightlessly around her shins as the moon spirit limped to her. She reached her hands out, cupped under the water’s surface, and the moon spirit slid into her hands. 

“Goodbye,” is all she managed, before she fainted. 

\-------------------------------------------

She is the Moon Spirit, and She is not the Moon Spirit. And He is the Ocean Spirit, but He is not the Ocean Spirit. But still they dance. Push and pull. The ships go out to sea. The tides raise and lower. 

You didn’t have to do that, She whispers to herself. I did, She answers herself. She is the Moon Spirit, and she is not the Moon Spirit, but she retreats to the sky anyways. 

The Ocean Spirit returns to his own body, and the Avatar is left. 

She needs to watch closely over the Avatar Spirit, and all of the people close to him. He travels with a son of Agni and a non-bender. 

The Moon Spirit is very fond of the fire bender and the non-bender, but She can’t quite remember why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _dying author noise_ oh god I'm sorry i'm so sorry guys i'm sorry about making Yue the moon spirit i'm _sorryyyyyyy_


	17. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A city is in mourning. A plan is formed. A task is given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short lil transitionary between-seasons chapter for y'all!

There was silence in the sanctuary, when the rest of the city cheered. Iroh was sitting, staring at the pool where two fish continued to swim in harmony. 

He almost wanted to be sick. The young water tribe man had been. Zuko. . . was sitting and staring with him. 

Iroh almost wished he would say something. But now wasn’t the time to prod. 

The waterbender girl was comforting her brother. The Avatar was trying to get a moment of understandably-needed rest. 

And the moon was bright in the sky. 

Zuko leaned into Iroh, head resting on his shoulder. Iroh reached his arm around Zuko, and could feel that Zuko was shaking. 

“It’s unfair, Uncle.” He whispered. 

“I know, nephew.” Iroh responded, squeezing Zuko’s arm. 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko had let her walk into the water. He’d just. . . let go of Yue. And he knew she wasn’t dead. Not really. She was part of the Moon Spirit now. But she wasn’t there, wasn’t laughing with him, wasn’t backing him up. She wasn’t offering casual touch and teasing Sokka. She wasn’t _there_. And she wouldn’t be, because that had been the price of the world. 

The price of the world felt too steep. 

She’d only been sixteen. And she’d grown up silenced, all her life. And she’d had to decide to give herself up because of one insane man and a nation of brainwashed citizens. 

“It’s unfair, Uncle,” He’d said aloud, leaning on the man. 

“I know, nephew.” His Uncle had replying, squeezing his shoulder. 

“She was so young.” 

“She was.” 

“. . . She was my best friend.” 

And Zuko felt Iroh shift so he could embrace Zuko, and he turned into it and buried his face in Iroh’s shoulder. 

“War can take from us what we are not ready to give.” Iroh spoke gently, and Zuko could hear the tears in his voice. 

He felt like an idiot. He was crying about a best friend, but Uncle had lost his own son to this war. 

“. . . But sometimes, we gain things that we never would have thought we would get.” Iroh eventually added. 

Zuko finally started crying. 

\-------------------------------------------

“Uncle.” Zuko said, after the third day in quiet mourning. They’d attended a funeral- there was no body to push out to sea in the beautiful box they’d made out of ice. The city was nearly silent in rebuilding and mourning. Uncle Iroh had been staying in a guest room in the palace as Pakku’s friend, and the council wasn’t even raising a fuss about it. 

But Zuko spent his time with Uncle now. He wanted to be near the others, but. . . 

No. He’d stay with Uncle, for now. He was spending his nights down in the cabin, but during the day he would stay with Iroh. 

“Yes, Zuko?” He asked, considering a letter he had laid out in front of him. 

“What are we going to do, now?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean, I assume we’re not getting the Wani back.” 

“Most likely not. I do not know if it even survived.” Iroh put his borrowed calligraphy brush down. 

“So. . . what are we going to do?” 

“Are you not going to continue hunting the Avatar?” Iroh asked. 

“. . . I’m tired.” Zuko shook his head. “Of hunting, I mean.” 

“That is understandable.” Iroh stroked his beard, streaking calligraphy ink in it by accident and not really noticing. 

“I. . . Uncle, do you think Father really wanted me to come home?” 

Iroh sighed. “I must tell you that you’ve been deemed a traitor. I do not doubt that I will be treated the same.” 

Zuko nodded. He’d expected this, but it still hurt. 

“I saved a whole settlement from our soldiers. That’s when I was spotted.” Zuko admitted. It felt like a confession. Such good words with such horrible implications. “They were going to burn everything. They were going to imprison the people.” 

Iroh nodded for Zuko to continue. 

“But. . . I must have killed dozens. I caused an explosion. My people.” Zuko shrunk. “I’m not even fit to take the throne.” 

“Zuko, you spent time there before it was attacked, yes?” 

“. . . Yes.” 

“Did the people seem to have done anything wrong? How many children were there?” 

Zuko paused. “What’s the point?” 

“My point is that you defended a whole town of people, Zuko. People who just wanted to live. The War Minister was about to kill them. I think defending innocent people is a rather noble trait, regardless of what nation they belong to.” 

Zuko nodded slowly, haltingly. 

“You will wish you hadn’t hurt anybody. But sometimes the only way to change their mind is violence. I do not doubt the Avatar tried to talk to him first. But War Minister Qin was never one to listen to talk before acting.” 

Zuko nodded again, this time feeling as if he had movement in your neck. 

“I don’t want to hurt anybody. Not anymore. Not even Aang.” He shifted, sitting in Lotus position, hunched in a very not-royal way. 

“And that’s alright too.” 

“Is it?” ZUko asked. “I just. . . Don’t know where to go from here.” 

“How about with your friends? I hear they are leaving in a few days, to find young master Avatar an earthbending teacher. You could help them end the war.” 

“I don’t know if I can.” 

“Because of your father?” 

“Yes. He won’t give up the throne. Aang will have to kill him to prevent him from continuing the war. You would have to sit on the throne.” 

Iroh hummed, finally noticing the calligraphy ink in his bread and frowning. 

“I think I’m a bit old to take the hold of a country and bring reforms into place.” 

“But you’d have to, if Aang were to succeed in killing Father.” 

“Ah, if only the royal family had one more child, older than Azula, sees that war is harmful to both our nation and the war. . .” 

“. . . Oh.” Zuko’s eyes widened. 

He could take the throne, if Aang overthrew his father. 

He could make the difference. He could help fix their nation. He could help, he just needed to aim a bit higher than Crown Prince. 

“I- no, I couldn’t. Could I?” 

“You’ve grown an extraordinary amount in the past few years, Zuko. You’re learned.” Iroh smiled. “You have more good in you than I’ve seen in any member of this family. If anyone is to seize the throne, I believe it should be you.” 

“But I’m not ready to lead,” Zuko frowned. 

“And the Avatar is not yet ready to act. He’s two elements short. You both have time to learn. There is always time to learn.”

“Will. . . will you come with me? I need your guidance, Uncle.” 

Iroh pressed his mouth into a thin line. “I am not so sure that an old man like me is suited to flying.” 

“I don’t think you’re suited to endless winter either.” Zuko replied, smiling. 

“Oh, you’re right,” Iroh groaned. “My joints have never been achier.” 

“We could. . . we could fly you somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, and you can start over there. That way I can have easy contact with you.” 

“Hmm. I hear refugees are headed for Ba Sing Se these days.” Iroh contemplated. “. . . I will accompany you, I think.” 

“Yes! Thank you, Uncle.” Zuko grinned. “This will be perfect. And you can help teach Aang firebending with me when the time comes.” 

“I would be honored to assist the Avatar’s bending teacher,” Iroh smiled. “I hear he is becoming a great man.” 

\-------------------------------------------

“Your brother and uncle are traitors.” The words slither from past a wall of fire. “I have a task for you.” 

Azula grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ENTER AZULA! That crazy bitch, aw man. Such a good villain.


	18. Leaving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The North Pole holds no more action for our bold adventurers. They set out.

“Hey guys.” 

“Hi Zuko! Is that the guy that helped at the sanctuary?” Aang pointed past Zuko’s shoulder, at the old man who had his hands in his sleeves. 

“Yes. This is my uncle, Iroh.” 

“It is nice to meet you, young master Avatar.” Iroh bowed. 

“The Fire Lord has a brother?” Katara asked. 

“He does.” Iroh smiled. 

“How old is he?” Sokka marvelled. 

“Ozai? Younger than me.” 

This got a few quizzical looks from the water tribe siblings, but no clarifying questions were asked. 

“Uncle’s been declared a traitor to the Fire Nation. I want to find a place he can stay until he can help me teach Aang firebending. I was hoping he could travel to the Earth Kingdom with us.” Zuko explained. “I know I’m asking a lot as the most recent member of the team, but-” 

“Of course! Welcome to the team, Uncle Iroh!” Aang steamrolled, bowing to Iroh quickly. 

“Are we sure? I mean Appa-” Katara began. 

“Appa will be fine once we get above solid ground, and we’re not taking him that far. We might slow down a bit, but that’s alright.” Aang dismissed. 

“How much slower?” Sokka asked, carefully, in the middle of rolling up his bedroll. 

“Nothing we can’t handle. Might’ve slowed us down a day or two in the end, but I don’t think we’ll be flying all the way to Ba Sing Se. Just as far as Omashu.” 

“Uncle was planning on-”

“Omashu would be excellent.” Iroh interrupted Zuko. “I have friends there.” 

Zuko gave Iroh an odd look, but that was alright. 

\-------------------------------------------

Chief Arnook cornered Zuko the hour before they were going to leave. He’d been walking through the palace to go find Aang and ask some questions. 

“Can I talk to you, son?” He asked. 

“Ssssure. . . sir.” Zuko uncomfortably answered. He. . . Really didn’t want to, actually. He tugged his parka a little closer. 

“Come walk with me.” Arnook waved after him as he began talking, and Zuko fell into step next to him. 

“. . . What would you like to know, sir?” 

“Yue. . . she loved you. And by the way she spoke, you loved her just as much.”

Zuko choked on a laugh and a bout of pain all at once. 

“She was my best friend, sir.” He replied. 

“Mm. I remember relationships like that. Not only loving your partner, but being their very best friend. . . it’s something that should last a lifetime. I wanted to talk to you especially. I can’t believe you’re holding it together.” 

“It’s hard.” Zuko swallowed thickly. “It’s. . . it’s really hard. Not to just lash out all the time. I miss her constantly. I’ll- I’ll think of a joke, but she’s not here to laugh. And I’ll be walking and I’ll find something she would have liked, but she’s not here to like it anymore. It’s not fair for me to feel that way, either. She did something so noble it saved the whole world, but I’m left here to miss her.” Zuko, marvellously, did not cry out of sheer will. 

“I know how you feel.” He nodded. “She was the light of my life, and my only child. The hole it leaves in my heart is astounding.” 

“I’m sorry, sir.” Zuko sighed. 

“Don’t be. You couldn’t have stopped this. Nobody could have.” Arnook stopped walking, turning to Zuko. “I want you to know that I don’t blame you. Or Sokka. You both would have saved her if you could. It wasn’t your fault.” 

And Zuko wished that it felt that simple. That if Arnook said he didn’t blame him, that everything went away. He didn’t blame himself, of course, but he wish that had solved everything anyways. 

“Thank you, Chief Arnook.” 

“Of course, son. You would have made an excellent son in law.” Arnook clapped him on the shoulder, and Zuko choked on another laugh. 

Yue would have laughed. 

\-------------------------------------------

They wound up taking a water tribe boat out, to give Appa as much of a break as possible. Pakku had decided to go to the Southern tribe and rebuild. 

Zuko thought he should have been focusing on teaching the women of the water tribe how to fight, but. . . you know. What did he know? 

And it was weird. Because Iroh and Pakku just sat and played pai sho together in mostly silence. And that was all he was doing, for pretty much the whole time. There were few proverbs, mostly just Aang having nightmares and Zuko not giving a hot damn while trying to get used to _whatever the fuck a hammock is supposed to be, how is ANYBODY comfortable like this, he misses his futon._

But hey, at least Katara and Aang got gifts! Scrolls and water. Cool. Really cool. 

And they were headed for an Earth Kingdom military base, which was Even Better. 

Uncle had a vastly different reaction to Zuko to flying. 

“You’re going to want to hold on,” Sokka warned, and Iroh grabbed the side of Appa’s saddle politely. He and Zuko were seated at the front of Appa’s saddle, the water tribe siblings at the back, and Aang driving. 

“Yip yip!” 

And Appa beat his tail, rocking the small water tribe ship enough as he ascended that Pakku had to water bend it stable. Uncle’s face split open into a grin as he watched the world grow smaller below him.

“This is astonishing,” He exclaimed, peaking over the side. “It shouldn’t even be possible!” 

“It’s happening though!” Sokka put on his best “crazy is my real life, it’s no big deal” attitude. 

“I knew the sky bison must have been astonishing creatures, but this is better by far than anything I could have imagined.” Uncle marvelled. 

“Zuko screamed when we took off for the first time,” Katara ratted Zuko out. 

“I did not! It was a perfectly reasonable noise of surprise!” Zuko sputtered. 

“Oh yeah, sure. And when Momo squeaks, that’s the peak of manliness.” Sokka mocked. 

“Shut up!! I heard you scream because you found out what a cabbage slug looks like!”

“THEY’RE SO CREEPY, THOUGH!” 

“And you bother me about manliness,” Zuko scoffed. 

Uncle was smiling. Zuko felt betrayed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gick this is a super Short Chapter sorry lads


	19. Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh doesn't like General Fong for two days and then they leave. He has nothing more to say on this matter.

General Fong was suspicious. And Iroh was trying his best to play Nice Old Man. 

He knew he had fire nation features, but at least his clothes were Water Tribe, and he’d cut off his top knot. 

He’d left his fire nation robes behind. They didn’t need to follow him where he was going. 

Iroh had always suspected that this would happen- that he’d eventually get too defiant for his younger brother’s tastes. He was just surprised it took this long for it to happen- he’d already essentially banished himself, following Zuko on his wild sparrow-goose chase that he’d been sent on. 

It had just been a manner of time before it was official that he wasn’t allowed home.

There had been lots of fanfare for the Avatar and his friends. Zuko and Iroh weren’t mentioned, but Iroh wasn’t surprised. Zuko had only joined the group less than a month ago, and more than likely had kept his head down. But they were welcomed, at least, and they were being offered passage to Omashu, except- 

Well, General Fong wanted Aang to harness the Avatar state. And Iroh didn’t think that was wise, because he’d seen what the child was in the Avatar state. 

Terrifying. And unrestrained. 

The Avatar state had seemed to be something that should be reserved for the worst of situations. They had time- they should be getting the Avatar a teacher of earthbending so he could be more prepared than Ozai, not lingering on in a military stronghold where General Fong kept looking at Iroh and Zuko sidelong while they watched Aang try and fail to harness the avatar state. It was. . . almost hilarious? Iroh was trying not to laugh when the boy was doused in mud. But it was still not exactly working and it was a waste of time. 

Iroh hadn’t been present when the pushing got out of hand- he’d been meditating. It was difficult to meditate on a flying bison. And around a group of teenagers. He’d thought his nephew was loud- he’d never been around a whole group of them before. 

Though his nephew was certainly better at yelling than any of them. 

He was did manage to come rushing to investigate right when Sokka knocked out the General. After having the tale recounted to him by a grumpy Zuko- he’s been incapacitated a few minutes into the fight being trapped in an earthen box that he couldn’t blast his way out of in time- He agreed that it was a good time to leave. 

At least General Fong couldn’t look at him or his nephew sidelong anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhgghhhhghhg i'm having a bit of block on writing but I know if I get through the next few chapters I'll get it taken care of. Be warned: I'm probably going to skip a handful of episodes coming out. Even Secret Tunnel, as much as I fucking adore that ep. Not a lot of shit here changes with Iroh and Zuko's presence, so it's just. Hard to write.


	20. Omashu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight happens in Omashu.

Zuko hadn’t firebent in the tunnels. It was a matter of principle. He was just. . . so angry they had to go through it in the first place. 

He wasn’t a little _bitch_ , so he didn’t complain about it like Sokka, but he’d hated it. 

When the group was separated, Sokka and Uncle had gone with the nomads. Which did _not_ drive Zuko crazy, and he was _not_ worried about his Uncle or Sokka, and anybody who implied it would- he’d- he’d do something. Mean. Probably. 

But it was fine, he’d figured out the riddle and extinguished the torch and they’d gotten out and been shortly rejoined by the nomads and Sokka and Uncle. 

“I’ve never heard so much bad music and so many nonsense proverbs in my _life,_ Sokka groaned. 

“That’s rough, buddy.” Zuko nodded, patting Sokka’s shoulder. He understood that pain. 

Uncle Iroh looked like he was greatly satisfied with his time. 

“They are lovely performers, Nephew. It really makes one miss music night on the _Wani_.” Iroh smiled. They’d managed to pick up earth kingdom clothes for him, and another set for Zuko, which was nice. 

The nomads said goodbye and wandered off, and Sokka was very satisfied as they climbed the hill to get a look at Omashu. . . 

Which was occupied by the Fire Nation. 

“Shit.” Zuko sighed.

“Nephew,” Iroh snapped. 

“Sorry,” Zuko mumbled, not being sorry. 

He missed being able to swear. 

“What are we going to do about this?” Sokka groaned, allowing himself his brief moment of Frustration and Drama before he furiously planned himself past the new obstacle. 

“We need to go in,” Aang insisted. 

“Aang, I know you had your heart set on Bumi teaching you, but-” 

“This isn’t about finding a teacher, Katara. It’s about finding my friend.” 

“So we’re just going to go into a Fire Nation town?” Zuko made a Face at the Fire Nation banner. 

“It is not a Fire Nation town, it’s an Earth Kingdom city that’s been taken over.” Aang defended. 

“Same difference. It’s taken over.” Zuko waved a hand. “Seriously. And why does our nation put our flag on everything? It’s gaudy.” 

Katara laughed a little. Zuko smiled. That was good- laughter meant she wasn’t in a murdery mood. 

“It’s a sign of confidence. And it’s meant to send a message. They want people like us to lose heart.” Uncle Iroh was still staring at Omashu. “I imagine it’s worked on some of the citizens, at least.” 

“Wouldn’t they rather lure us in and take us off guard?” Sokka asked, turning his eyes to Uncle. 

“Well, we’re just a handful of people. While we scare them, an uprising of the people would scare them far more. So they turn to intimidation tactics instead of stealth.” Uncle explained. 

Sometimes Zuko had to remind himself Uncle was still the Dragon Of The West despite being old and docile. 

“Ah.” Sokka nodded. 

“So, how are we getting in?” Katara folded her arms. “It looks like the front is pretty well guarded.”

“Oh, if you help me we can waterbend the whole group up the sewer pipes. Getting in isn’t the hard part.” Aang waved her off. “I just need to know where they’re keeping Bumi.” 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko froze as they continued their search. It was nightfall, and they’d made up some weird disease called pentapox to keep them in the clear. 

There was a family walking down there, in noble clothes. 

And he had only a moment to mumble, not quite believing it, 

“Mai?” Before the rock began hurtling down toward her. He couldn’t move fast enough, she was going to be crushed- 

Oh. 

The Avatar got it. Good. Cool. 

Mai’s mother cried something about a resistance. Mai and the guards charged.. And they ran like hell. 

Zuko had been leading the charge, along with Uncle, but they stopped short as Aang knocked down some scaffolding. He turned around, 

“Zuko?” Mai called out, hesitating with her knives. 

And then they were falling through the floor, and there was darkness for a moment.

\-------------------------------------------

Now, Zuko hated the fact that there had to be a hostage trade. This was quite possibly his worst nightmare. It was a people skills situation, and he hated it. 

But he and Sokka and Aang and Uncle were all going to trade a baby for a king, which sounded somewhat unfair, and it just so happened that Mai was in the city, and he really didn’t want to talk to her. 

And she shouldn’t be seeing him anyways, since there was no way she was doing the discussion here- 

They got to the agreed upon location, and Zuko’s blood ran cold. 

There, on the platform, was Mai, Ty Lee, and his sister. 

“Run.” Zuko muttered. “Now. We need to run right now.” 

“What do you mean-?” Aang began.

“We need to run.” Iroh agreed. 

But it was too late. Azula had seen them, and BUmi was being lowered in a metal coffin. 

“Hello Aang! Hello Iroh!” He called out. Aang waved. Iroh’s eyes stayed glued to Azula. 

“Uncle! Brother! What a wonderful surprise!” 

“That’s your sister?” Sokka muttered. 

“What are you doing here, Azula?” Zuko asked, sinking into a fighting stance. 

“How rude. In _my_ country, we exchange hellos before asking questions.” 

“We just want to hand over the child.” Uncle warned. “Do not give us any trouble.” 

“So mistrustful,” Azula pouted. “And. . . now that I think about it. . . Mai, does this seem like a fair trade to you? A baby for a powerful earthbending king.” 

Mai paused, looking at her younger brother. 

“No, I don’t think it is. The deal’s off!” She called, and the king was brought up. And the chaos started- Aang flew after Bumi, Azula followed him, Mia began hurling knives, Ty Lee disappeared, Sokka began trying to get out of there with the kid, Uncle began trying to fight against Mai’s knives without hurting her and helping Katara, who was also trying to fight Mai and not being as generous- 

Wait. Where was Ty Lee? 

Zuko began to search. He spotted a disturbed plank- she must have gone down. 

He ran for it, Mai too busy with Uncle and Katara to do anything, and hopped down in time to see her running across the shaded area. 

“Stop!” He yelled, and sent a blast of fire her way that she managed to dodge. She looked between him and the platform above them and shrugged, running toward him. 

“It’s really nice to see you, Zuko!” She informed him as they dodged each other. She was very fast, but Uncle hadn’t drilled him on close-range combat for nothing. “How long has it been, six years? Maybe seven? It’s been a while.” 

He punched at her head, and she dodged under it, and went to jab at him, but he knocked her hand away. He kicked at her, she rolled away a couple of feet. 

Sokka went sliding down a ladder. A few planks came up above them. The metal coffin with the king fell from its chain with a little yellow figure on top. 

“Darn,” Ty Lee pouted, and came at Zuko again, faster this time. 

Jab, block, roll, duck, punch, punch again- 

Oh, that second punch was a mistake. She got around him and jabbed his shoulder, then his arm, and his neck. He felt his inner flame sputter out and leave a dark pit in his stomach. 

“Damn, you got good at that chi blocking thing.” 

“Aw, thanks Zuko!” 

“Not a compliment,” He grunted, and began trying to fight her without firebending, if only just to keep her busy. She grinned, and jabbed him again, making his leg go limp. 

“Sorry, Zuko. I’ll catch you later, though!” And she somersaulted away. 

Agnit fucking burn it, he thought, and tried to hit his leg into working order again. 

“What in the spirit world are you doing here, Zuko?” Mai asked, apparently having had switched places with Ty Lee. 

“Trying to fix my leg,” Zuko replied. 

“Ha ha. Why are you travelling with the Avatar?” 

“For funsies. Obviously.” Zuko spat, punching his calf. He could almost feel it that time, so. Progress. 

“Was that a joke?”

“No,” Zuko punched himself again. 

“You’re betraying your country, Zuko.” 

“That’s not how I see it, Mai.” estopped, to look up at her. 

She hadn’t drawn any knives, yet. 

“What do you mean?” She asked, hesitant. 

“My father is cruel, Mai. And my grandfather, and my great grandfather. We’re just spreading hatred and pain to the world. My father banished me just for speaking out of turn. Sozin killed an entire people just for being the people the Avatar belonged to. You can’t convince me that was right.” 

“This is treason.” Mai was pale. 

“I’m doing what I need to do to make the Fire Nation a good nation again. And you’re either with me on this, or you’re against me.” 

“Azula could-” 

“Azula burned small animals for fun, Mai, do you really think she wouldn’t do the same to people if she could get away with it?” Zuko snapped. “Wake up. I know you’re friends with her, but come on.” 

Mai was quiet.

“Besides, the throne is my birthright. That’s the least important part, but. . . you know.” He sighed. “The Avatar would have a place for you. You wouldn’t be bored anymore. Come with us.” 

“I- I can’t-” 

“I understand. But send me a messenger hawk if you change your mind.” Zuko managed to stand, albeit wobbly. “You’re a good person, Mai. I wouldn’t like to see you on the wrong side of history.” 

“Zuko, come on!” Sokka yelled, and Zuko ran towards the end of the platform. 

“I’m down here!” He yelled, and Appa levelled with them, Uncle and Katara and Sokka already on it. 

“Get in get in get in!” Katara urged him, and he jumped, leaving Mai on the platform as they went to confront his sister, who was throwing blue fire at Aang, who was coffin-skating down the mail delivery system. 

Which was very interesting. Zuko didn’t put it past Azula to follow her target down an insanely dangerous situation like that. 

They pulled up close and had Aang try and get into the saddle, but they were over shot, and then short at, so they had to withdraw. 

They caught up with Aang at the bottom. 

“Where’s Bumi?” Zuko asked, confused. 

“He has to stay for now. I have to find a new teacher.” Aang replied, shrugged as if this were fine. Uncle nodded as if this, too, made sense to him. 

Zuko sometimes wondered if Uncle Iroh was just very good at pretending he knew everything. 

\-------------------------------------------

“I never thought all of the people we need to find would be all together like that!” Ty Lee chimed. “It’s nice to see Zuko again, even if I have to chi block him first. Right, Mai?” 

“. . . Yeah.” Mai deadpanned. 

“It’s convenient. And a little disappointing,” Azula sighed. “It would be so much more fun if it were a challenge.” 

“They got away today, though.” Ty Lee smiled. “So I think we’ll get to have our challenge.” 

“We weren’t expecting the traitors _and_ the Avatar to be in our presence today. Make no mistake. We’ll be ready next time.” 

“Great.” Mai sighed. She would be bored until then. 

Or maybe Zuko would ask her to commit high treason again. Who knew?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways next chapter's going to be Very Interesting lol


	21. Swamp: pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :)

It had been a whole month since they left the North Pole. Three weeks, and they were just flying around the Earth kingdom, being awkward and drinking tea and getting into fake fights. 

On the bright side, Zuko’d discovered that Sokka was pretty funny. And that uncle Iroh adored tormenting him as much as he enjoyed tormenting Zuko, and now Zuko had gained a much steeper appreciation for Uncle’s sense of humor. 

“To hunt, one must their inner beast,” Iroh had sagely said, sipping on one of the chipped cups they’d gotten for an agreeable price at a village along the way. Katara had taken to tea with great zeal, and Uncle had been all in on teaching her everything she could want to know. So that had required supplies. 

“What does that _mean,_ ” Sokka whined, tilting his head back as he returned empty handed from hunting. 

“In time, you will know.” Zuko added, adopting Uncle’s mystical tone. Uncle hummed in agreeance. 

He’d never bonded with his Uncle more than in that one moment. 

But now they were flying again, and Uncle was marvelling at the view (he really did love flying). Zuko was trying very hard to not look at much of anything that would give him motion sickness or severe vertigo, so he wouldn’t be doing much of anything. 

“Hey Aang, is there a reason we're going down? . . . Hey Aang?!” Sokka snapped his fingers. 

“Huh? What?” Aang’s voice floated over from where he sat on Appa’s head. 

“Are we landing for a reason?”

“Oh. I hadn’t noticed.” 

“Maybe you’re just sleep deprived?” Zuko suggested. He’d zoned out like that before. 

“No, the swamp. . . I feel like it’s calling out to me, you know? I think it wants me to land.” 

“No. I don’t know.” Zuko shook his head. 

“No offence to the swamp, but I don’t see much land to land on.” Sokka looked over side, and Zuko grimaced. That did _not_ look safe. 

“But Bumi said I’d have to listen carefully to find my earthbending teacher. And now I’m hearing the earth, and you want me to ignore it?” 

“Yes!” 

“I mean, I’d be surprised if an earthbender lived down there. It’s all water and plants and stuff.” Zuko pointed out, glancing carefully over the edge of Appa’s saddle. 

“Yeah. . . It seems kind of ominous, Aang.” Katara supplied. Uncle Iroh chose to stay silent. 

“Fine! Since everyone feels so strongly about this. . . Goodbye, swamp. Yip-yip!” 

Apparently, that wasn’t the correct answer. 

\-------------------------------------------

Zuko had easily avoided being dragged too far into the swamp, but he’d been turned around so much by those vines that he was totally lost. He couldn’t hear Uncle or anybody else, and he didn’t feel easy staying in one place. They’d already been attacked once. He didn’t want to be attacked a second time. So he started walking, the full moon guiding his path through the trees. 

And, funnily enough, somebody appeared. Just a silhouette of dark hair in the distance, but Zuko trudged towards them regardless. 

“Hey! I’m lost, my friends are somewhere nearby- Hello?” He called out. The figure had moved. It was farther away than when he started. “Hey! Get back here! I need help!” He demanded, and began charging after them. 

He started making progress, but when he was within several feet of her- and it was definitely a her, he’d decided- she turned. 

“I- mom?” He asked, searching her face. “Mom!” He broke out into a relieved smile, as if he’d only lost her a few minutes ago- he was a little boy again, and she’d just been out for a day like he’d thought, his father hadn’t- 

But she’d disappeared. He could have sworn she was right there. Who had he been chasing? She’d been right there- where did she go?!

“Mom!” He called out. 

“Zuko? What are you doing out here? What- what am _I_ doing out here?!” Yue’s voice reached him. He tensed up. 

“You’re not real!” Zuko yelled, clutching at his ears. 

“Am I not? Darn.” She sighed. “I mean, if I wasn’t real, you’d think I’d at least be able to not have my socks get wet-” 

“Stop,” He begged. “Stop showing me this. She’s _dead,_ they’re both dead. Mom is gone and Yue is gone and Uncle is gone now too because it’s the goddamn swamp-” 

“Zuko. Please.” Yue’s voice got closer. 

“Stop!” He yelled, and firebent behind him widely. He heard Yue cry out and a loud splashing. 

Did hallucinations make noises? 

He looked behind him to check, and there Yue was, sitting in the water in her parka, rolling up her singed sleeve and hissing at her tender skin. 

“You’re- You’re dead,” He stuttered, backing up. 

“I’m confused too, Zuko, you could have just punched me to make sure I was real! Spirits, I was lucky I showed up in my parka.” She frowned at her arm. “Where is everyone?” She asked, looking around. 

Zuko edged toward her, and then looked away and back at her, and then slowly offered a hand. 

When she took it, it was flesh and blood, as far as he could tell. 

“How are you here?” He asked, slowly. 

“I’m. . . Not sure.” Yue shrugged. “I was the Moon Spirit, for a while. I was watching you and Sokka and Aang and Katara, and I was fine. I helped the moon wane, I helped move the tides, and I was fine. But i was helping- which meant we were separate, and I wanted to be on the Earth, and I was helping the moon wane, and we separated. And now I’m here.” 

Zuko blinked, and then nodded, and then nodded some more. 

And then he locked her into a tight hug, burying his head in her shoulder. And she was _there_ , and not about to disappear again, and she wasn’t about to die, and it was ok. 

It was _okay._

“Hey! Guys, I found Zuko!” Aang called out. “And. . . also somebody else?”

“YUE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :))))


	22. Swamp: pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends are found again. A plan is formed.

“Is that- is she-” Sokka stuttered. 

“She’s here,” Zuko confirmed, stepping away from Yue. “I mean- you- you can _all_ see her, right?” 

“I can see her,” Supplied Aang. 

“Yeah.” Katara stared at Yue, her expression reading very _what the everliving fuck _.__

__With the following silence, Zuko realized that Uncle wasn’t speaking._ _

__“Where is Uncle Iroh?” He asked, panic settling in again._ _

__“We. . . haven’t found him yet.” Sokka shifted. “We’d thought we’d lost you too.”_ _

__Yue placed a hand on Zuko’s shoulder. “We’ll find him, Zuko.”_ _

__“Speaking of Yue, actually, how is she, y’know, here?”_ _

__“We don’t know.” Zuko shrugged. “For now I’m just taking it as a blessing, I think.”_ _

__And Yue smiled at him._ _

__“Come on, guys, we need to keep moving.” Sokka looked around. “I want to figure out this whole thing as much as the next guy, but I think we can do that on Appa while we’re getting far, far away from here.”_ _

__There was general agreement._ _

__Zuko decided to walk very close to Yue in case she decided to disappear again._ _

__

__\-------------------------------------------_ _

__They found the heart of the swamp, and fought the vines man- of course, he’d stopped the fight and cleared things up, but they definitely won._ _

__He was leading them up the big, center-of-the-forest tree and talking about how it was important and linked everything together and bla bla bla whatever _where was Uncle_?_ _

__And how topical a loud thought to have, because they hit a plateau in the roots that they had been trekking up, and there was Uncle, sitting in lotus position, staring out at the swamp spread out before him._ _

__“Ah, Huu, you’ve retu- oof!” Uncle let out as Zuko collided with him in a hug. “Hello, Zuko.”_ _

__Zuko didn’t feel like responding to that, but he backed up anyways._ _

__“Oh, hello again.” Yue waved at Iroh, smiling. She’d tied her parka around her waist, leaving her in the nicely embroidered undershirt she’d been wearing the day she’d left._ _

__“Princess Yue.” Iroh’s eyes widened past the point that Zuko had seen since that one time he-_ _

__Actually, that story was embarrassing. Never mind._ _

__“You’re here.” He continued._ _

__“Yes, I am. I. . . don’t know how.”_ _

__“Hmm.” Iroh tugged at his beard. “It’s possible that you need not be with the Moon Spirit at all times. After all, the koi was damaged, but not dead. . .”_ _

__“Oh, shit, really?”_ _

__“Zuko,” Iroh scolded._ _

__“Sorry,” Zuko responded fast and steamrolled onward. “Yue! Do you think-”_ _

__“Zuko, I don’t know.” Yue shushed him. “I don’t know if I can stay, and I don’t know for how long, I don’t know. Oh, actually, how long was I-”_ _

__“Three weeks.” Sokka cut her off. “You were gone for three weeks.”_ _

__“It. . . did not feel that long.” Yue squirmed slightly, disconcerted by the idea that time could just get away from her like that._ _

__“Well, it was. I’m. . . Glad you’re back. For the record.”_ _

__“Thank you, Sokka.” Yue smiled._ _

__“I know where Appa and Momo are,” Aang suddenly spoke. “We need to go, now.”_ _

__Apparently. Zuko learned later, Aang had communed with the swamp. This confused him as much in the future as it had in the moment._ _

__

__\-------------------------------------------_ _

__

__Well, Zuko decided that he didn’t like swamp people. They were greasy, their food was gross, and their catogaters creeped him out. He was an animal lover, he really was._ _

__But those things. They scared him._ _

__Either way, he was more than happy to get in the air and move the hell on, with an extra member in tow._ _

__“Appa’s going to get overloaded soon, Aang pointed out. “Six is a lot. We’re lucky Yue’s light.”_ _

__“Ah, I am sure the sooner that I find a place I may stay, the journey will be much easier for Appa.” Iroh patted his stomach._ _

__“Not that we want you gone, but when is that going to happen?” Katara asked, very politely._ _

__“Well, it depends on how far towards Ba Sing Se we will get. I plan to head there to start over whenever our paths diverge.” Iroh hummed. “It is the only stronghold that I believe the Fire Nation truly can’t touch. Not easily, at least.”_ _

__“We shouldn’t be too far out, I don’t think.” Sokka pointed out. “Hold on, I have a map.”_ _

__Zuko had, in all honesty, forgotten that Uncle was leaving. And he didn’t want him to._ _

__“We should be in a well-established town not too far from Ba Sing Se with major routes in a handful of days. We can drop you off there?” Sokka jabbed a finger at the parchment._ _

__“That’s way too far!” Katara protested. “We don’t even have enough money to make sure he’ll have food for that whole trek! And on foot?”_ _

__“We might want to just head to Ba Sing Se anyways, Sokka.” Aang pointed out. “It’s a massive earth kingdom city. There’s bound to be all sorts of masters there!”_ _

__“I can make the journey alone, Katara. I am not so fragile already.” Uncle joked._ _

__“Uncle, we can take you further-”_ _

__“The Avatar’s journey is more important than the pilgrimage of an old man, Zuko.”_ _

__“But if his journey takes him to Ba-”_ _

__“His journey might take him to Ba Sing Se eventually. But it should not be so early just on my account. He must take his time if he wants to find the right teacher. He should not be spending that time running me to Ba Sing Se.”_ _

__“Are you sure?” Katara asked, looking at Iroh with a little fear._ _

__“I have survived living with my nephew for three years on a metal boat. I think I can make a journey through the Earth Kingdom on foot with no problem.”_ _

__“Hey!”_ _

__And so they would be dropping Uncle Iroh off in Gaoling. And Zuko would be separated from him once again._ _

__There was a gentle quiet for a while, as they flew._ _

__“. . . Uncle, do you have any insight on Yue’s reappearance?” Zuko asked. “It’s. . . . bothering me.”_ _

__“I’m glad to see you too,” She snarked, bumping his shoulder._ _

__“Tui and La are in an everlasting dance of push and pull.” He began. “Like two waterbenders passing water back and forth. Young Avatar, Katara, what does that feel like? Is the push equal to the pull?”_ _

__“The pull is harder. The push feels like you’re giving in so the other person’s pull, but with the pull, you’re taking the lead.” Katara answered, immediately. She would have been the tutor’s favorite in a classroom, Zuko figured._ _

__“And what happened with the push and pull dance, Yue?”_ _

__“The moon waxes with the pull, and wanes with the pull.” She answered. “The tides follow the same sort of pattern.”_ _

__“If you would like my theory, I would say that the Moon Spirit needs your help with the pull, but can afford to let you go with the push, since the Ocean Spirit can pull at that time.”_ _

__And that. . . made a lot of sense._ _

__“Wow,” Katara breathed. “No wonder our ancestors learned from the Moon Spirit. It and the Ocean Spirit do the same move that Aang and I would practice with before we got to the North Pole. It’s a super integral part of water bending, and it’s the most natural to have two people. Otherwise, you have to learn to be your own push and pull. Which is far more advanced.”_ _

__Iroh nodded._ _

__“Spirits, I am _so_ lost right now. We never talk about the complexities of _boomerang_ throwing.” Sokka huffed. _ _

__“Yeah. I could learn to throw a boomerang.” Zuko agreed._ _

__“You can learn from all four elements even if you are a firebender, nephew. I learned styles of bending based on waterbending that have saved my life and may well continue to do so.”_ _

__“Really?” Katara asked. “Do you think I could do the same?”_ _

__“I do no doubt Master Pakku has taught you some already.” Iroh chuckled. “And my nephew knows some of those moves too, whether or not he chooses to acknowledge it.”_ _

__“I do?”_ _

__“Of course. Why do you think I started you on different katas than the palace master?” Iroh scoffed. “He knows nothing about waterbending. Or airbending. And even if he did know about earthbending, he would avoid teaching that way.”_ _

__“Hmm. What haven’t you taught me like that?” Zuko asked. “Can you teach me before you leave?”_ _

__“. . . perhaps. There are a few that might serve you well.” Iroh tugged at his beard._ _

__Zuko decided that he was excited now._ _

__"So. . . How long is Yue supposed to. . . you know. . . Stay with us?" Sokka asked, awkwardly._ _

__"Until the New Moon, I would assume." Yue shrugged. "If the Moon Spirit needs me again, then I will have to go to it."_ _

__"But you'll come back afterward, right?" He clarified._ _

__"If I can."_ _

__Zuko didn't like the anxiety that developed in the pit of his stomach when she said that._ _

__"In all likelihood, she will. There will be a cycle, and with the way it seems to be developing, she will return when the moon has become full again."_ _

__"So. . . two weeks there, two weeks here?"_ _

__"More or less."_ _

__"Wonderful." Yue sighed. "And how do I know where I'll reappear?"_ _

__"We don't. That's something we'll have to find out."_ _

__"Fuck." She groaned._ _

__"Agreed." Zuko tried to ignore the sharp look he got from Iroh._ _

__Take that, Uncle. Yue could swear _for_ him._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah! Yue is kind-of-sort-of-ish back!


	23. Self Therapy (An Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko's brooding again.

Zuko was not happy. Well, he wasn’t happy usually, but this was decidedly more negative than he’d been for the past few days. The whole Avatar Day fiasco had. . . _happened._ It had happened. It sure had. 

And sure, having Yue around was super cool! But it also meant watching Sokka try really hard to flirt with her (Zuko knew that Yue thought it was cute. But Sokka was embarrassing himself.) and doing dishes for another person. And wondering if, when she left, if she’d ever come back. And where she’d come back. What if Yue reappeared in that horrible swamp, tortured with visions of things she’d lost, or things she would lose one day?

Yeah. He just about despised that idea. She deserved better. 

He felt bad that that was all he ever seemed to think in relation to Yue. Yue deserves better. She deserved a better fiance, she deserved a better childhood, she deserved better than to become the moon spirit, she just _deserved better_ , and the knowledge of that fact hurt Zuko’s bones more than his fire could. It felt like crawling, when he realized that Yue didn’t deserve to be travelling with them, she deserved to be living a life she got to choose. 

And Uncle, too. 

It felt unfair. Uncle hated war. He hated the idea that people refused to treat others with kindness. He deserved to start over, in Ba Sing Se, somewhere the war couldn’t touch. He deserved to open a teashop, or a library, or somewhere where he could shelter those who needed it. He should be allowed to live without the weight of Zuko always getting into trouble. And he certainly shouldn’t have had to deal with the abuse that Zuko had doled out on the ship. 

He was such a horrible nephew.

But how would he even go about apologizing? “Hi, Uncle, your bitchass nephew, here. Remember the times I verbally abused you and took out my own incompetence and inability to hunt the Avatar to gain the love of a man who’s essentially turned his back on me? I’m really sorry about that.” 

Yeah. No. That would be lame. 

And he didn’t want to think about Father. He really wasn’t ready to think about all of that. 

So he would conclude his Trauma Check In for the night. Who needed therapy when he could just try to slowly work through his problems all by himself? He was sure that, with enough gentle prodding at the issues, he’d eventually learn and heal. So he didn’t need help. Not with that, at least. 

“Zuko. Buddy. You’re brooding.” Sokka’s voice intruded on his thoughts. 

“Not brooding. I’m doing self therapy.” He mumbled, shifting his sitting position. He was sitting with his back to a log that Sokka and he rolled near the little circle of stones that Uncle had had Aang and Yue help put together to contain the fire that Zuko and Iroh lit and were keeping a gentle hand on. 

It would have been very nice, provided that Zuko wasn’t a little bitch and wasn’t busy _thinking_. Like a loser.

“That’s. . . not how therapy works.” Sokka sort-of-not-really explained. 

“It’s not therapy, Sokka, didn’t you hear him? It’s _self_ therapy.” Yue corrected. 

“Ah. Right.” Sokka stroked a beard that he didn’t have, nodding sagely. Uncle Iroh eyed him in an evaluating manner. Zuko wondered if he was trying to figure out if Sokka was making fun of him, or if he was trying to picture Sokka was a beard. 

Maybe both. Because now Zuko was doing both. How _would_ Sokka look with a beard? 

“I don’t see why you’d self therapy when I’m such a good therapist,” sokka sniffed. 

“Oh yeah. Sure. I’m going to unload my trauma on you.” Zuko snarked. “Of course.” 

“No, seriously. Lay it on me. Right now. Come on.” 

“My mother disappeared when I was little and nobody would even say her name in front of me.” Zuko rattled off. “My sister got me hurt constantly and never got in trouble. I spent three years on a boat chasing a fairytale because it was my only chance to go home.” 

“. . . Okay what the _fuck,_ ” Sokka began, after a stunned silence. 

“Are. . . Zuko, are you alright?” Aang asked, glancing around and then leaning towards Zuko. 

“Yeah?” He’d picked tame examples. Except that last one. But he wasn’t sure how to process that. So. Jokes. 

“. . . Do. . . Do you want to talk about it?” Katara asked, pulling away from the food she’d been tending to over the fire. 

“Not really? I’m fine,” He insisted. 

“That didn’t sound like things that would make you feel okay.” Yue pointed out. 

“Yes, but, I’ve been working through it, and everything is ok.” Zuko said, slowly. What about this were they not getting? 

There was an uneasy silence, everybody glancing at eachother. 

Sokka got up first, walking over and attacking him- rather, wrapping his arms around him. 

“What-” Zuko began, and felt Aang also hugging him, and Yue, then Katara, then he heard Iroh get up and join. 

Great. Now everybody was hugging him. And he was still confused. He was okay, why was everybody piled on him? 

He was ok. He was fine, now. He was safe, he was ok- He- He was crying, suddenly, surrounded by people who he had hurt. And they all cared about him, and in that moment he was safe, and it was all too much. 

What was he even supposed to do, if everything was alright, and he was safe? How was he supposed to live if he was unchallenged? If things got better- If he became Firelord and ushered in an era of peace- Would he even know how to live? Would his nation survive peace after a hundred years of war? How many families had people just like him? 

He didn’t know, and all he could do was cry. 

\-------------------------------------------

Gaoling was a nice city, as far as cities went. It was civilized, so it was certainly better than the forest and wilderness in Zuko’s opinion. 

Aang managed to find a free earthbending flyer, which was cool, but Zuko was off shopping with Uncle, which really meant holding all the stuff Iroh bought with the meager funds he’d put together the day before doing odd jobs. It was all mostly functional, so Iroh could travel, but some things, Zuko was sure was just Iroh getting overexcited. 

“Is that. . . really necessary?” Zuko asked, and Iroh added a small carved platypus bear to the pile. 

“Zuko, once you get older, you will learn that sometimes money must be spent on things that make us happy just as much as things that we need. And that platypus bear will remind me of the time I got to spend with you and your friends. So yes, nephew, it is very necessary.” 

Zuko thought that was some supreme, grade A bullshit, but kept that particular sentiment to himself. 

They were eventually fetched by Aang, who was very excited and speaking in that very fast way that he did when he wanted everybody to come see something very important, like Momo sticking his tongue out. Sokka and Yue came jogging up afterwards, translating. 

“There’s a pro earthbending match,” Sokka explained. 

“We think we’re going to find something there.” Yue added. 

“Oh, wonderful! Entertainment,” Iroh grinned. “Zuko, doesn’t that sound excellent?” 

“Sure, Uncle. Are we going to buy a bag??” He asked, around the pile of stuff he was holding. 

“We already did, nephew. You’re holding it. “ 

Zuko had to exercise way too much self control so he wouldn’t set everything on fire in the middle of an Earth Kingdom city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhh you guys know what happen next chapter!!! You guys fuckin' know!!!!!


	24. *Shows Up An Hour Late With Depression* Anyways, Another Short Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph is Sort Of Not Really Introduced

If Uncle had wanted Zuko to study other bending forms, Zuko would not have thought this was how he’d be observing earth bending. He’d thought he’d go head-to-head with a master and study his moves to use against him in a crushing ultimate blow that would knock the master to the ground and he would concede that Zuko was the superior bender. And he’d say a cool one liner, or something. Like “My honor is far superior to yours,” or something. He’d need to think about that one further. 

But, instead, they sat in an underground arena on stone bleachers. Below them, on an earthen platform surrounded by a trench, earth benders fought to throw the other out of the center to win a game. It was entertaining for the first few rounds, but this man- The Boulder- was dominating. It wasn’t enjoyable when he just won every time. 

Sokka was enjoying himself, so he turned to Yue for entertainment. 

“What’s with the whole lizard gimmick that guy has going on?” He asked, crossing one leg over the other. These bleachers were not especially comfortable. 

“Is he a lizard? I thought he was a frog.” Yue sat up properly. She’d been sort of hunched over, head propped up on her hand. 

“No, he’d be more jumpy if he were a frog.” Zuko shook his head. “Look, he’s scurrying.” 

“Can’t frogs scurry?” 

“I’m pretty sure not-” 

“Now that’s just frog racist.” Yue replied, with the straightest face. Zuko broke down into laughter, and she followed soon after.

Zuko completely missed the proud smile Uncle sent his way as he laughed. 

“I’ll do it!” Aang called. Zuko eyed the bag of coin. 

He would really love to send Uncle on his way with that much money, but he knew he couldn’t beat that little girl without his firebending. And with this crowd all around him, there was no way he could fire bend without getting mauled by a crowd. Especially not after that really shitty caricature of a Fire Nation man was booed into the trench. 

So he was letting Aang handle it. Because Aang could do what he wanted as the Avatar. 

He watched the blind girl heckle Aang, who airbent his way across the arena while she created pillars of stone where he landed. 

He knew exactly how this would pan out as Aang tried to talk his way out of the duel. It never worked. Talking your way out of a duel meant _nothing_ and not striking back was how you got hurt-

Well, nevermind. Aang airbent the little girl off the platform. Which was cool, he guessed. But he didn’t really approve of Aang’s tactics to try and get her to stop- she obviously had wounded pride after being the champion anyways, so trying to talk to her wasn’t going to work. 

Sokka was losing his whole shit, and ws down in the ring grabbing the reward while Aang was all upset because he was dumb. Uncle, Yue, Katara and Zuko stayed in the stands. They just let that happen. Because Sokka was an embarrassment. 

Iroh and Zuko decided to stay away from the Beifong residency. 

They had no clue on whether or not they might be considered wanted yet. And how far any posters may have spread. If there were to be anyone that would have their information, it would be authorities and the wealthy. So they stayed behind. 

Yue was safe, since she was assumed dead and the royalty of a neutral party, and everybody else was of no consequence or was the _fucking Avatar_. So now he was just trying to occupy himself. 

It was already the evening, and Zuko could only assume Aang had succeeded and worked his 12-year-old magic and made friends with the Blind Bandit girl, and got her to teach him all her earthbending moves. 

Well, until Sokka came by and started yelling to follow him, and then took off sprinting. Zuko followed, of course, but it was still weird and Sokka looked very very distressed. 

“TOPHANGAANGKIDNAPPEDBYCRAZYWRESTLINGASSHOLESWEGOTTAFUCKINGGOCOMEONGETYOURFIREREADY!” Sokka dumped on him, all at once. 

“Is Yue safe?” 

“Yes she’s safe, dude, she’s staying at the Beifong place since she isn’t armed.” 

Zuko took a moment to appreciate that Sokka said nothing about it being because she was a woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so get I orthodontic work done tomorrow and I'm just bummed about it so it's a very very short chapter today and maybe no chapter tomorrow, sorry lads


	25. We Will Meet, Again, Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A ransom is paid. A young girl kicks several asses. Goodbyes are exchanged.

“Toph!” Lao Beifong called. 

“We have you money. Now let them go.” Sokka set the bag of coin from the Earthbending tournament down, and Master Yu earthbent it to Xin Fu. 

The scene was rather dramatic- both Aang and the Blind Bandit were in metal cages high above the ring, suspended by chains. The host from the earthbending tournament was standing underneath the cages, all muscles and scowls. 

Zuko was more upset that he never thought of capturing Aang that way. Come on, a metal box? That would have been perfect! Why’d he never try to but him directly in his cell _before_ getting on boat. Stupid- 

“What about Aang?” Sokka asked, as only one cage was lowered. The Blind Bandit was dressed in finery, and walked with Lao Beifong and Master Yu to exit the ring. 

“The Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar,” Xin Fu replied, unfurling a scroll. 

A wanted poster of Aang. 

Agni, burn it. 

Zuko sunk into a fighting stance. Uncle, Katara and Sokka did the same. 

A group of pro earth benders descended and stared back. 

“We can take them,” Zuko assessed. 

“No, nephew. Back down. There are too many.” Iroh insisted. 

“Just go, I’ll be alright.” Aang waved through the bars of his cage. Zuko felt like this was wrong. 

“Toph! There’s too many of them. We need an earthbender. We need you!” Katara called to the little girl, who was walking down the hallway with Lao’s hand on her shoulder. 

“My daughter is _blind_!” Lao Beifong spat. “She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile! She cannot help you!” 

The girl knocked her father’s hand off her shoulder. “Yes. I can.” 

When she joined the group, she stood in front of them. When the group of earthbenders charged, she claimed them. She managed to raise a cloud of dust that covered the whole ring. Zuko dashed to Aang’s cage, which had been dropped when Toph began to cover for them. 

“Trigger the hinge on the bottom!” Aang urged. “Come on! Come on!” 

Zuko watched one fighter fly out of the ring.

Sokka began hitting the mechanism with a stray rock. Katara began tugging at the bottom of the door. Uncle gently shooed Katara away and put his palms at what looked like the thinnest part. 

“Zuko, please make sure the young avatar does not get burned.” Iroh calmly asked, and Zuko placed his hands on the metal near Aang as Uncle began warming the bottom of the cage. 

“ _Burned_?!” Aang squeaked. 

“Relax, Aang. He’s just melting the bottom of the cage.” 

“WHAT?!” Aang scrunched up in the top of the cage, pressed against the bars. 

“He’s got legendary control, and I’m making sure the heat doesn’t reach you. Seriously, you’re real jumpy.” Zuko would have huffed, but he was trying to control his breath enough to draw the heat from the metal that was creeping up from the bottom. 

“I mean, there’s a lot at stake. I would also rather not be boiled alive.” Sokka contemplated. 

“Boiled?!” Aang panicked. 

“Aang. It’s okay. Iroh is doing a very good job. You won’t be boiled. Zuko’s keeping you safe, and he had _better not mess up or I will commit a lot of crimes against his person_ -” Katara began trying to settle Aang down, sitting where he could see her. 

“Please calm down?” Zuko asked, vaguely defeated, because he knew she wouldn’t. 

A second earthbender left the ring violently. 

“Wow, that girl really knows how to fight,” Sokka commented, a hint of fear on his face. 

“What’s she doing? I can’t see!” Aang strained against the bars to try and get a vantage point. 

“Yeah. I mean, she was the champion.” Zuko shrugged. “Reason stands that she’s mastered earthbending.” 

“But she’s, like, Aang’s age.” 

“Hey! I already mastered airbending and I’m doing well with waterbending.” Aang protested.

“You’re the _Avatar,_ of course you’ve mastered an element and a half.” sokka stuck his tongue out. Aang blew a raspberry back. 

“My favorite part of this group is its maturity,” Zuko deadpanned. 

Katara laughed, short but genuine. 

“Are you- are you alright?” Zuko shot a frightened look over his shoulder (and through his bangs, because those were getting long enough to bother him) at Katara. 

“Yeah? Why?” 

“You laughed at something I said.” He pointed out. 

“It was funny. What, am I not allowed to have a sense of humor?” Katara got all defensive. 

“That’s _my_ job,” Sokka protested. 

“Doesn’t mean I can’t do it too,” Katara stuck her tongue out. 

The heat was coming up faster now. Zuko couldn’t see the bottom of the box from where he was. He assumed Uncle was doing exactly what he’d set out to do. 

“It’s nice to know that all my friends get along, you know, because I was worried that Katara would never be nice to you, and-” Aang rambled. 

“What’s that supposed to mean??” Katara looked down at Aang. 

“Nothing! You just hold grudges sometimes!” 

“I do not!” 

“You do, actually.” Sokka piped up. 

“I- _one_ example. Give me _one_ example!” 

“I ate the last sea prune and you filled my clothes with snow for _months_.” Sokka accused. 

“I- oh yeah. I did. But you _deserved_ it!” 

“Katara, could you come here and cool off this metal for me?” Uncle asked, politely. 

“Oh, of course.” Katara smiled and walked over, suddenly all polite and nice, waterbending water around the edge of the cage. A loud hissing noise ensued. 

Three men got launched out of the arena. 

“Try crawling through there, Aang.” Katara asked. Zuko finally removed his hands from the cage. 

Aang popped out of the coffin a moment later, ready to fight.

“Toph’s got it handled,” Zuko told Aang, pointing to where the dust was. The cloud suddenly dispersed, and it was just the tiny girl and the massive Xin Fu, standing off. 

The fight didn’t last all too long. Zuko decided to snatch the money back from Xin Fu. 

“I’m sorry you didn’t get your earthbending teacher, Aang.” Katara rested her hand on Aang’s shoulder. “But there has to be another one out there.” 

“Not like her.” Aang sighed. 

“I should begin my journey to Ba Sing Se. I’m afraid this is where our paths diverge.” Uncle stood, all of his things packed into a backpack, and a large sum of the money Zuko had grabbed packed into a coin purse. 

“Oh! Yeah, I guess it is that time.” Aang turned. 

“We’ll miss your wisdom.” Katara ass kissingly said. 

“We’ll miss _you_.” Yue amended. 

Zuko stayed silent. 

“I believe that once I get to Ba Sing Se, I will open a tea shop. Feel free to come and find me when the time comes.” Iroh offered. “You are following your own destinies. And I believe that the world is in very capable hands, now.” 

“Aw, thanks.” Aang grinned. 

“Nephew.” Uncle caught Zuko’s attention. “Come, walk me down to the main road.” 

“. . . Alright, Uncle.” Zuko nodded, and followed the old man down the hill. 

A few moment passed, only the noise of their feet hitting the soft grass beneath them interrupting what would have been a silent night. 

“Zuko. I want you to know that I never could have been _prouder_ of you than I am right now.” Uncle began. “You have begun to ask the real questions, far before I could have imagined. You have grown so much in the past few months.” 

Zuko choked up. 

“I’m still the same.” He argued. 

“No. You’re not. You have begun to act out of love instead of hate. And you have friends. Real friends. Ones that may well have already saved your life, just by embracing you. They’re invaluable, Zuko. They’re your family now. And the fact that you have found them is astounding.” 

“ _You’re_ my family.” Zuko replied, quiet, for if he spoke louder, the lump in his throat might dislodge. 

“And you’re mine.” Iroh and Zuko had stopped walking. Iroh pulled Zuko into a hug. “You’re my nephew. You’re- ever since Lu Ten died-” 

“Uncle-” Zuko began. 

“I think of you as my own.” The man held Zuko just a little tighter. 

“. . . And you’re more of a father than I could have asked for.” Zuko admitted.The tears began to fall from his eyes, almost imperceptibly, as he clung to Iroh. “And I wish I could take the past three years back. I’m so sorry that I was so horrible to you.” 

“You were lost, Zuko. I could never resent you for that.” Iroh insisted, pushing him to an arm’s length, holding his shoulder. “But you found yourself, Zuko. You found yourself.” 

Zuko wasn’t sure, since it was dark, but Uncle’s cheeks looked wet. 

“I-” 

“Hey, you’re the weird kid that was with twinkletoes at the Arena! You done with the sobfest, or what?” A twelve-year-old voice rang out. 

“Ah. Young Miss Beifong.” Iroh dropped his hands from Zuko’s shoulders and wiped at his face quickly. Zuko scrubbed at his own eyes. 

“Please _spirits_ never call me that.” 

“Ah, alright. . . Toph.” Uncle awkwardly amended. 

“Better. Anyways, Twinkletoes is at the top of the hill, right?” 

“Aang?” Zuko asked. 

“Yeah, sure, whatever you wanna call him.” 

“. . . Yeah.” 

“Sick. I need to kick his ass real quick.” And she trudged up the hill. 

“What a polite young lady.” Iroh grimaced. 

“. . . I’ll come find you in Ba Sing Se. Whenever I get the chance.” Zuko promised. “Aang and I will come find you when he’s ready to learn firebending.” 

“Zuko, understand that you might need to be the one to teach him.” Iroh gravely insisted. 

“But- I’m- I’m not a master.” 

“No. But there might not be time by the time he's ready. And it might have to be you.” 

Zuko paused, uncomfortable. 

“I’ll do my best if it comes down to it, Uncle.” 

“Perfect. Oh, I left you a scroll on Appa. Make sure to read it, and share it with young miss Katara and the Avatar. I pray that you won’t need it, but it may serve you well.” Iroh clapped Zuko on the shoulder. “We’ll meet again, again.” He quoted, a song that Zuko had heard over and over again on the ship, dazing in and out of consciousness. 

Zuko swallowed a lump in his throat, and smiled. “Roads may separate but converge again eventually.” 

He knew the song better than he knew his own name. Iroh grinned at him, hugged him once more, and began walking, whistling the tune. 

Zuko watched his Uncle walk away from him, and he heard Aang exclaim and Yue laugh behind him. 

Maybe he really did have a family.


	26. Honey Badger (Moles) Don't Give A Fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph asks for some introductions. Things go downhill from there.

The night they departed from Gaoling, Zuko sat with Sokka on his left, a sealed scroll in his lap and Yue on his right, watching a tiny, foul-mouthed blind girl try and figure out how to handle the sensation of flying. 

It was super annoying when the most reaction they got was “whoa, weird.” 

Why did nobody fear flying like they should?? 

And he resented the fact that they were flying. With the waning moon, Zuko couldn’t read the scroll, and he wasn’t about to light up a flame in his palm, with the wind the way it was up there. So it had to wait ‘til tomorrow. 

“I need introductions.” Toph finally stated. 

“Oh, yeah, you haven’t spent a lot of time around us.” Katara seemed way more shocked than she should have. 

“Uh, no duh.” Toph crossed her arms. 

“. . . Right,” Katara nodded, slowly. “Well, I’ll start. I’m Katara, I’m a waterbender.” 

“I’m Aang!” Aang shouted from Appa’s head. 

“I know _you_ , Twinkletoes!” She shouted back. Zuko admired the volume of her voice. 

“I’m Sokka. I’m the boomerang guy. And Katara is my sister.” 

“Right. You’re the idiot.” She nodded.

“I’m Yue.” Yue waved, and then quickly realized that wouldn’t work. 

“Yeah, the really nice chick from dinner.” Toph actually smiled in Yue’s direction. 

“ _I’m_ not nice?” Katara asked, frowning. 

“No,” Sokka, Toph, and Zuko replied in perfect unison. Katara scoffed. 

“Zuko, introduce yourself.” Yue hit Zuko’s shoulder gently with the back of her hand. 

“No,” he grumbled.” 

“Come on, dude, just say hi.” Sokka knocked his other side. 

“Fine! I’m Zuko.” 

“You’re my favorite.” Toph declared. 

“ _What_?” Zuko definitely-didn’t-squeak. 

“You’re an asshole. So you’re my favorite now.” She nodded decisively. 

“I- thank you? I guess?” 

“She called you an asshole, dude.” Sokka argued. 

Yue shrugged. “She also said he was her favorite, so-” 

“Yeah, and _I_ should be the favorite, I’m _likeable_!” Sokka tapped his chest with both hands. 

“Not really,” Toph deadpanned. 

“Aren’t I likeable?” Aang pouted from Appa’s head. 

“I think Zuko’s going to be the most likeable because I don’t think he bullshits. Sokka is practically one hundred percent bullshit.”

“I can confirm. Sokka is bullshitting at all times.” Katara folded her arms. 

“Wasn’t asking.” 

Katara made a Face at Toph, like the ones where she really thought Zuko wasn’t looking. 

“Where are we even headed?” Toph asked. “Ba Sing Se? The Fire Nation? Omashu? Some super secret Avatar place?” 

“We’re moving around so we don’t get picked up by the Fire Nation right now. You just gotta teach Aang earthbending so we can get Zuko and his uncle to teach him firebending and he can take on the firelord.” Sokka explained. 

“. . . Not even Kyoshi??” Toph frowned. “They’re neutral, we should just hide there.” 

“I mean, Zuko found us there.” 

“Some assholes on a dockside tipped us off.” Zuko shrugged. “You shouldn’t’ve let all the villagers just talk like that.” 

“We were ratted out? Awwww, man.” Sokka folded his arms. 

“It probably wasn’t purposeful.” Yue pointed out. “One fisherman could have said something to a friendly sailor who just managed to spread the word all the way to a neutral port.” 

“Yeah. Information spreads if you’re not incredibly careful.” Zuko agreed. Sokka sulked less. 

“. . . I feel like I missed some heavy shit.” Toph sat forward a bit.

“Oh, yeah. Up until recently, Zuko was trying his best to kill me.” Aang piped up. “He’s good now, don’t worry.” 

“Allegedly,” Katara muttered, with the air of somebody who didn’t think Zuko could hear. 

“He’s- You just trust him?!” 

“Well. . . he had his reasons.” Aang uncomfortably responded. 

“I was brainwashed by the fire nation.” Zuko responded flatly. “They do it to everyone.”

“Oh those propogandizing bastards.” Toph sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back again. 

Despite himself, Zuko laughed. 

“That’s the first thing I’m getting rid of when I take the throne,” He decided out loud. “Or- second. First, I’m giving back all the stupid fucking colonies, _then_ the propoganda.” 

Everyone was staring at him. 

“You’re the fire prince?!” Toph’s mouth hung way open. 

“You’re planning to take the throne??” Katara asked, and almost everyone varied on that at the same time. 

“Um. . . was that not something I shared?” Zuko asked, bashful. 

“Fucking- _no,_ Zuko. It wasn’t!” Sokka gestured wildly. 

“I- well, my father’s obviously not fit to rule, and Aang’s gonna kill him, and Azula’s fucking _crazy_ , and Uncle doesn’t want to rule. So that leaves me, right?” He explained, a little panicked. 

“Well, I’m going to _defeat_ him.” Aang corrected. 

“You can’t just assume you’re going to take the Fire Nation,” Katara looked- disgusted? Fearful? Negative. Definitely negative. 

“Why not? It’s my birthright.” 

“Yeah, but you’re- Your family is so-” 

“What, Katara? What about my family?” Zuko snapped. “Go ahead. Say it. Insult my whole bloodline, please. Including the firelords before my grandfathers. I would _love_ to hear what you have to say about my mother and my uncle and all of the royal family.”

“I-” Katara recoiled. 

“Let me guess. We’re insane, and evil, and we’re all war mongering assholes. You _still_ don’t trust me, after these months I’ve spent travelling around on this bison with you guys, trying my hardest to play nice.” 

“Zuko,” Yue placed a hand on Zuko’s shoulder, concerned. 

“And you might even be right about the last few generations! You know, most of them for the past couple of years were pretty nasty. But Lu ten was never like that. My mother was never like that. My uncle- you _know_ my uncle! You would sit right next to him and learn tea from him. He’s a firebender just like me! He didn’t even spend that much time with you and you just accepted him. What do I have to do for you to stop treating me like an attack about to happen?!” He snapped. 

“Hey, guys, listen-” Aang began, trying to ease the uncomfortable atmosphere as Katara was crunched into the corner or the saddle, staring at Zuko as if to gauge if he was done yet. 

“Aang.” Sokka warned, quietly. Aang frowned and turned back around. 

“Damn. You guys are really friendly.” Toph whistled. 

“It’s. . . usually not like this.” Yue promised, gently. 

“No, but she always looks at me like I’m a monster.” ZUko grumbled. 

“Yeah, I mean it’s not like you literally helped save Aang today. And you cried saying bye to that old guy. You’re like. . . the least hardcore guy here.” Toph gestured at him. “Like, you’re a firebender and whatever, but you’re pretty chill.” 

“I- again, not sure how to respond to that.” 

“Just don’t,” She shrugged. 

“You tried to hurt Aang so many times.” Katara finally piped up, speaking very slowly. “It’s just very difficult to trust you after all of that.” 

“Yeah, well, renouncing the man I was born to is pretty hard too.” Zuko folded his arms. “I’ve had at least three serious horrible spells after directly betraying him. I can’t breathe when it happens, and my head hurts, and I can’t even think. It’s not really super easy to back out on the stuff you’ve been taught your whole life.” 

“Dude. That’s a fucking panic attack.” Toph said, as if that was obvious. 

“I- what?” Zuko stopped. 

“It’s called a panic attack when you freak out like that. I used to get them a whole lot before I decided not to give a fuck, like the badgermoles.” 

“. . . cool?” Zuko was very confused by the tiny earthbender. 

“Katara was taught to be super-duper scared of the Fire Nation since she was a kid too, you know.” Sokka pointed out. “Like, they raided our village when we were little, and then Dad went out to fight you guys, and that’s like, all we knew for sure.” 

Zuko stopped. He. . . he really hadn’t thought about that. 

Wow, yeah. That would make sense. They were just as isolated as he was as a kid. 

“See! We’re all misunderstanding each other!” Aang grinned, as if everything was all fine. 

“No, Aang, we’re not. We are _different_ ,” Katara spat. “ _His people_ committed _genocide_. _His people_ killed all the waterbenders in our tribe. _His people_ killed my mother. _His spirits-damned people_ have been waging 100 years of war of everybody else and taking people’s homes and lives. For _one hundred years_. And his family has been heading it all! I hate the Fire Nation because the Fire Nation wants me dead. The Fire Nation hates us because we _dared_ to stand up for ourselves!” 

“And you’re justified in that!” Zuko snapped back. “Never once did I try to tell you that my people should have been colonizing and murdering entire people! Guess what, I think it’s fucked up too! My issue with you is that I have been bending over ass backwards to try and prove to you that I’m different and that I want to undo the corruption in the nation that my forefathers have failed, and you just look at me like I’m about to kill all of you! I’m actively plotting to overthrow my _father_ with a whole group of public enemy number ones, I’ve saved his life a bunch, I’ve been friendly, and none of that has been getting me anywhere with you. I know why you _were_ afraid of me. I get that now. I didn’t at first, but I get it _now_ , and I gave you it for a bunch of time. It’s not my fault you can’t seem to let that go.” 

“Stop,” Katara held up a hand. “Just stop talking. I’m done with this conversation.” 

“What, is it too hard to try and wrap your brain around the fact that I might not be out to get you?” Zuko snarked. 

“Yes! Yes, it is! That’s the whole problem!” Katara threw her hands up. “You’ve left such a huge trail of destruction in your wake!”

“Katara. . . He’s sixteen. I’m sixteen. Sokka’s- you’re sixteen, right?” Yue asked. 

“Pretty much,” Sokka puffed his chest out. 

“Right. And you don’t think, maybe, Zuko was part of the royal family, and that sometimes, royal families are ridiculously brainwashed into thinking what their fathers did were always the correct thing?” Yue asked, placatingly. 

“He burned down a village.” Katara stressed. 

“Yes. And he was led to believe it was the best thing to do at the time by a lot of factors he couldn’t control. If you never gave him an opportunity to learn, he might be horrible his whole life, and you would spend your whole life hating each other.” Yue spoke, and something about it calmed Zuko down. She was on his side. It was. . . so relieving. 

“I-” Katara sighed. “Spirits. I’m just not ready to forgive him yet!” 

“That’s reasonable. But you don’t need to forgive him to trust him enough to stop insisting that he’s pure evil. Wouldn’t you rather have a suited, somewhat morally grey Fire Lord than a pure evil one?” 

“I’d rather put somebody good on the throne the first time,” She grumbled. 

“Well, the Fire Nation citizens believe that the Fire Lord is chosen by the sun spirit. They likely wouldn’t accept some idiot from a different tribe picked by the Avatar. Especially with all the lies they have to unlearn.” 

“Then let’s put Iroh on the throne!” Katara threw her hands up. 

“He’s an old man, Katara. And he has no living successors other than Zuko. Zuko would get the throne either way.” 

“I. . . guess.” Katara deflated a little. 

“See? It’s not too much of a ridiculous plan, after all.” Yue placatingly smiled. 

“Uncle is supposed to guide me as best he can once I take the throne. He just doesn’t want to be Fire Lord himself. He’s trying his best to make sure the future is good.” Zuko mumbled. He wanted to make sure Katara wasn’t all jumpy- it was super annoying. 

Thankfully, the ride went on quietly for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zuko: *breathes*  
> Katara: SHUT the fuck up omg   
> *Following serious argument in which both side is justified in their anger but they both think they're having a wildly different argument than they're having, leading to a cyclical and hateful relationship that really isn't healthy at the moment and needs to be worked out in a healthy way with a gentle moderator to lead to a long and civil conversation that might lead to a good, healthy, and honest friendship*


	27. The Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azula got a fancy new toy. Zuko doesn't really like it.

When they stopped for the night, Katara and Zuko kept a wide berth from each other. It was all awkward silence as the group minus Toph and Yue unloaded Appa- who was shedding absolute tons of fur- in unison, pitched tents, set up the fire, unsaddled Appa, gathered water, and settled down. 

Toph, in contrast, hopped off Appa with her meager bag and earthbent herself a basic structure. Katara was too emotionally exhausted to say anything. 

Yue simply hadn’t managed to learn how to slot herself into the rotation of tired teenagers. Zuko had had a phase like that too- she’d learn. 

But Toph didn’t seem to want to learn, at all. And that was alright, Zuko supposed- she wasn’t causing many problems as she was, so why bother her about it? 

Well, that’s what he thought, up until she snapped out of what seemed to be a dead sleep to interrupt his meditation and warn them that something was coming. Everyone woke up, bleary eyed, as she ranted about feeling something huge, like an avalanche, coming. 

The closer Zuko listened, the more he seemed to hear it. A deep rumble, and what almost sounded like the engines on the _Waniis_ that?” Yue asked, hushed. 

“I’d be willing to bet it’s Fire Nation tech.” Zuko focused his eyes on the object that was fading out of the view quickly. 

“How’d it find us?” Sokka asked, furrowing his brow. “We’ve been nothing but careful!” 

“Maybe Xin Fu ratted us out. He’d do that. Fucking prick.” Toph huffed. 

“Whatever. Appa moves faster than them anyways. Let’s just lose them and get some sleep.” Katara waved her hand. 

They didn’t set up another fire, but Zuko has started a tiny fire between his palms, focusing on keeping that nice and steady, nice and steady, not even a flicker. Just a tiny display of his control of his inner flame. He tried to make it bigger, and- it-

It sputtered out? 

Strange. It must have been the wind. There was no way his bending was acting up, he’d been meditating and practicing in his downtime. There- it was- he _had to_ be alright, still. 

He tried again, and the tiny flame thrived under his careful control. And when he tried to make it bigger again, it did the same thing. 

His inner flame was still there. Why wasn’t it working? Why couldn’t he fire bend?

He got up. He would- he would run through a kata! Yes, maybe it was just that, and if he ran through a move set he could fix it. 

He tried his best to be quiet, even if everyone was pretty much asleep. He wandered off, and started breathing. 

Even before, he’d been able to firebend at night. He hadn’t been perfect, but it had been better than the way he’d been bending at the campsite. He walked, and he breathed, and he ran through the reasons he shouldn’t freak out in his head. 

It was a nice forest, he thought, as he wandered enough to find a space in the trees where he could do as he pleased. He began working through the stances, and then tried to send out the burst of flame that was supposed to come, and- 

Hardly anything. 

“What the _fuck_? He hissed. He tried again. Same result. He was- he must have been broken, he thought. This couldn’t be his peak strength. But how could it have changed? 

And. . . when was the last time he actually fought someone? Other than Katara, of course, but he’d never dream of pulling fire on her. She’d never forgive him, and even if she was totally insane, he couldn’t risk that. He sat there, trying to remember, when he felt the rumbling in the ground. 

He thought for a moment. 

Go and attack whoever was following them head on, or tell Aang and the others so they could leave. 

. . . If his firebending were working, he would go with the first option. 

But as he stood, how could he defend himself? No armor, no swords, and no bending. How could he win against Fire Nation technology if he only had his own two hands? 

So. . . yeah. He sprinted back to the camp. Toph shot up at the same time. 

“It’s back!” They both alerted everyone in unison. 

There was less to pack up this time. 

Appa dumped everyone off and began snoring immediately. Zuko agreed- he’d dozed off at some point in the saddle. 

They’d landed on top of a mountain somewhere. Soka slunk off to sleep. Toph didn’t even earthbend a structure. Zuko had a headache building behind his eyes. 

He was out in an instant. 

But it was too bad! Because it turned out that the tank tracked them again, and there it was, rolling to a stop! Yue started shouting expletives and throwing rocks in their general direction. 

“Yeah, agreed. Let’s stay and fight. We’ve got four to their however-many-they-have, what can go wrong?” Toph stood up. 

“Toph, we. . . we have six.” Sokka corrected. 

“Oh, sorry. I wasn’t counting you or Yue. You know- non benders and all.” 

“I CAN STILL FIGHT!” 

“I’m. . . actually, you have a good point. I should really pick up a martial art,” Yue mused. 

“Alright. Four plus Sokka.” 

Zuko trained his eyes on the tank, and saw one of the cars oen up, and- 

“We need to keep running. It’s Azula.” Zuko insisted. “Come on, hurry up.” 

“We beat her and her crew last time!” Sokka insisted. 

“Who the _fuck_ is Azula?” Toph asked. 

“We beat her by running away last time. So I suggest getting an advance on all that.” Zuko ushered. “We can’t beat her.” 

“. . . Yeah, fine by me.” Toph shrugged. 

They got back on the bison, Toph creating a wall behind them, and took off. 

Zuko was really hoping that that wasn’t lightning he had just seen come from his sister who was _on a steed_. As in, not grounded, at all. 

“Maybe we could have gotten come sleep is Zuko and Toph wouldn’t keep waking us up!” Katara spat. 

“WHAT?!” Toph stood up, stomping the whole way. 

“We’ll just let you get run over by a tank driven by my crazy-evil sister, Crown Princess of Fucking Everyone Over, Royally.” Zuko sighed, tired. He didn’t have the energy to argue with her right now. “It’s not anyone’s fault that Appa’s shedding and she’s tracking the trail. ‘S just how having an animal companion works. You have to account for their needs. . . n stuff. . .” He lost his train of thought. Man, his head hurt like hell. He missed Uncle. Uncle wouldn’t have let the stupid tank follow them. He’d’ve. . . done. . . something. . . his head hurt. 

“Ha,” Toph grinned at Katara, as if Zuko had just completely owned her.

“Oh! Yeah, that’s gotta be it!” Aang perked up. 

“Who _cares_?” Sokka groaned into his sleeping back. 

“A tigerdillo must find the thorn in its paw before hunting for a way to extract it,” Zuko sleepily slurred out. 

“Stop sounding like Iroh!” Sokka demanded. 

“No,” Zuko made a Face. Sokka was being a dick. 

“Guys! No! I’ve got an Idea!” Aang declared. 

Zuko and the party sans Aang flew Appa in the opposite direction from Aang. It was nice, the idea that Azula couldn’t stalk them anymore. He liked that idea. 

It wasn’t long unti lSokka noticed Mai and Ty Lee, following them. 

“Agni burn it- GO HOME, MAI! GO HOME, TY LEE!” Zuko shouted, waving and arm over the side of the saddle. 

“HI ZUKO!” Ty Lee waved back. 

“STOP DOING AZULA’S BIDDING, SHE’S EVIL AND YOU KNOW IT!” 

“SHUT UP, ZUKO, YOU SOUND LIKE AN ASS!” Mai tossed a knife. 

It went wide of his head. 

“AT LEAST I’M MY OWN BOSS!” He mocked. “BET YOU CAME THIS WAY ‘CAUSE AZULA TOLD YOU! REAL ORIGINAL!” 

“WE AGREED ON THIS PLAN!” Ty Lee grinned. 

“OH, SURE YOU DID! LET ME GUESS, SHE WAS ALL, “YOU TWO GO THAT WAY, I’LL FOLLOW THE AVATAR” AND THEN YOU TWO WERE LIKE “OKAAAAY!” BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE JUST FOLLOWING HER AROUND!” 

“LAST WARNING, ZUKO, SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Mai warned, making a motion that looked a lot like grabbing knives out of her robe sleeve. 

Zuko made a rude gesture and ducked back to where Mai might not be able to murder him. 

More knives sailed wide of his head. 

“Yeah, great idea, dumbass. Piss off the knife lady.” Sokka scoffed. 

“Mai’s known me since we were like, five. She won’t murder me.” Zuko dismissed. “Just you wait, I’m gonna get her to commit treason with me.” 

“. . . You alright, Zuko?” Yue asked. 

“Uh. . . yeah, ‘guess?” Zuko was confused. “Anyways. We’re doomed. Appa’s losing altitude and they’re on lizard steeds so they’ll just cross the damn river.” He pointed out. 

“Alright, guess we’re fighting, then!” Toph cracked her knuckles. “Katara, land Appa! I wanna kick some ass!” 

Appa decided to land himself on the riverbank. Mai and Ty Lee weren’t very far out behind them. 

“Last chance, guys. Come join me and we can get my psycho father off the throne.” Zuko offered, as Mai and Ty Lee dismounted and sunk into fighting stances. “Otherwise, I’m gonna have to kick your asses with my friends.” 

“What about Azula?” Ty Lee tilted her head. 

“She’s insane, Ty Lee.” Zuko went slack-faced. 

“Oh, yeah. You have a point. She’d, uh. . . seriously be hurt if we defected.” Ty Lee frowned. 

“Why are you listening to him?” Mai asked. She shook her head. “Just surrender, Zuko.” 

“Nope.” 

“Fine!” MAi snapped, and began throwing knives. Katara began waterbending, and Sokka engaged Ty Lee as she cartwheeled into the fight. 

Zuko was stuck between altercations as Mai and Ty Lee dodged rocks and water and boomerangs. He decided to try and fight Ty Lee instead. She was in the middle of incapacitating Sokka, turing both his arms into noodles. He went to grab her from behind, and keep her hands still, but as he grabbed her hands, she sunk down and shot back up, cracking her head into his jaw. He held on, and she brought her heel down hard on his foot, making her release her. 

She cartwheeled away. 

“That wasn’t polite, Zuko.” She pointed out, and charged back in at the angle she wanted. 

He was limp on the ground in seconds, and Katara was pinned to a tree, and Toph was the only one left. 

She raised a rock shield to keep knives away, and then began trying to destabilizing Ty Lee, who started dancing between and on top of rock pillars, giggling. Mai charged around the shield and tossed another volley of knives, which met a rock pillar, and got a rock wave sent at her for her trouble. 

It was hypnotizing to watch Toph handle both enemies, but the mobility of both girls was just too much. Ty Lee chi blocked her, and Mai tossed knives into the sleeves of Toph’s shirt and her pant legs. 

“I thought beating you guys up would be more gratifying,” She sighed. “Oh well. Alright, other water tribe girl. Just surrender nicely, and we won’t even tie you up too tightly-” Mai began, turning to Yue, who’d been backed away from the conflict. She’d been taking steps in her direction. 

A massive wave of water washed over the riverbank, maneuvering perfectly around Zuko, Katara, Appa, Sokka, and Toph, but catching Mai and Ty Lee in the wave. 

When it receded, Yue was left, panting. 

“Don’t touch my friends,” She panted out, and promptly fell over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa guys, look, a third Yue-realted plot twist. WHEN WILL THIS INSANITY END????


	28. Showdown (Azula Always Lies)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now Zuko doesn't have time to unpack _all_ of that!

“Aw, come the hell on!” Sokka groaned. “Now _she’s_ a bender too??” 

“Apparently. Azula must have followed Aang- we’ve gotta load her onto Appa and haul ass.” Zuko ordered, not having time to unpack _all_ of that. “Now, people!” 

This was surprisingly effective in getting everyone moving. 

They managed to follow the trail of Appa’s fur, trampled with lizard prints. Katara was making sure Yue wasn’t bumped around- and that she was alright. Just exhausted, Katara said. She must never have bent like that before. 

Zuko was. . . unsettled, by the idea of her being incapacitated after overdoing it. But he reminded himself that Yue wasn’t a firebender, and her power couldn’t burn her. 

And besides! His sister was shooting blue fire at Aang in a tiny, abandoned, desert town. Much more important shit going on, unfortunately. 

“Azula!” He yelled, and Sokka brought Appa down. 

“Well, if it isn’t my _brother_ ,” She sneered, and got blown off her feet. 

She rolled and shot fire at Aang, who dodged up onto the roof of a porch. 

“I would like to, for once, know what the fuck is going on.” Toph asserted. 

“After I take down the Avatar, we need to talk.” 

“As if,” Zuko declared. He was humming with energy, fear and anger. 

Azula needed to go down. 

Zuko hopped out of the saddle and began firebending. He’d pulled his swords out of Appa’s saddle. There was no time to think.

He needed to win. 

He heard the sound of Toph stomping and the earth giving way to a will stronger than its own, and Azula jumped off with the momentum of the pillar to put her on the roof, and to blast at the small earthbender. 

Katara managed to try and put ice under her feet, but Azula shot fire at the water, evaporating what precious little she had out here. Aang tried her best to destabilize her, and succeeded. She landed on her back, and began rolling down the roof. She caught herself on the edge of the roof and dropped back down to her feet, and continued to fight. 

Azula fought against all five benders and Sokka hucking his boomerang. He kept his distance, luckily, and everyone was doing a good job deflecting her attacks, which she was dealing out in aggressive and quick attacks. Zuko didn’t dare to get too close to her, knowing she’d be too fast but reacting on impulse. 

He managed to stop several attacks from hitting his friends. 

And they only managed to corner her in a standoff. 

“Surrounded by criminals and traitors.” She sighed. Then she put her hands up, slowly. “. . . I surrender. A princess admits defeat gracefully.” 

“. . . Nobody put their guard down.” Zuko ordered. 

“Oh, Zuzu. What are you even doing?” She sighed. He didn’t stop scowling, didn’t stop trying to keep his fire from slipping back between the cracks. 

He was so, so afraid of her- so angry at her- his fire needed to stay. It couldn’t leave, he wasn’t safe. There was a _reason_ for it to be there, so it _was_.

“Father was devastated, you know. When he heard the Avatar captured you.” 

“I- what?” Zuko puzzled for a moment, and then shook his head. Azula always lied. 

“The Avatar is the center of spiritual activity, so he captured you, our Crown Prince, and kept him to make himself look more formidable. I heard he even tried to get Uncle.” Azula’s face fell into a mournful expression. “It’s. . . so sad that he used his spirit powers to brainwash you, brother. I would have liked to see you return home.” 

“I would never do that! Zuko wants to teach me firebending. Right Zuko?” Aang flashed a fearful glance at Zuko, then back to Azula, like _he_ was buying into this more than Zuko. 

He opened his mouth to agree, and then closed it. 

“You took our nation’s idol, Avatar. We will never forgive you.” 

“Zuko came with us because he didn’t want to follow your orders anymore! COme on, Zuko. Say something!” 

“. . . I can’t.” Zuko said. 

It was. . . Very possible that Aang could have done that. Zuko knew hardly anything about the powers the Avatar held. And how would he know if he wasn’t being controlled. 

“You can’t?” Katara asked, incredulous. 

“I don’t know!” He spat back. “I don’t know what he’s capable of!” 

“Exactly, Zuzu. He’s twisting your mind. Just come home with me- Father will forgive you.” Azula opened her arms. 

“What about my banishment?” Zuko asked, furrowing his brow. 

“Father is a kind man, Zuzu. After seeing his son manipulated. . . Family has become very important to him, as time wears on.”

“I- I- I don’t believe you!” 

“Zuko, please. Come home to us.” She pleaded. “Come back. We miss you. _I_ miss my big brother. I miss going to Ember Island, and watching those dumb plays, and competing for who can collect the most shells. I- I know I teased you a lot. But I’ve grown up, Zuko. I’m not twelve anymore. I was stupid, and vindictive, and I thought it was funny to see my brother upset. But it’s not funny, and it never was, and I’m _sorry_.”

“Shut up! Stop talking! You’re crazy, you’re- you’re a liar! You’ve always been a liar!” He spat. His fire pushed and pulsed and crackled at his fingertips. 

“I’m not, ZuZu. Please, please believe me.” She looked close to tears. Zuko was somehow more than angry about this. 

“Stop faking!” He yelled. “Stop trying to get into my head!” 

Sokka threw his boomerang while Zuko was yelling, and it hit Azula in the head. 

She crumpled disturbingly. 

“Zuko, are you okay?” Aang immediately asked. 

“I- I don’t know. She had to be lying. She- she _had_ to be lying. Azula always lies. She- She used to get me in trouble all the time, and she- Sokka, why did you do that?”

“Sssshe was upsetting you? And I got worried? I don’t see you like that often.” Sokka gestured at her. “Also she tried to kill all of us individually and is the reason we’re tired. So I vote that we let her crazy ass friends find her and _we go sleep somewhere far away_.”

Zuko. . . Zuko rather liked that idea. His head hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys guys guys! i'm not dead! I was busy on Sunday and I'd been busy with another project on Saturday so I didn't update, but I'm now working on getting into the Rhythm and so? Short, end of ep chapter!


	29. MANLY BONDING!!!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hunting trip is gone on.

It was a week later. It was a week after Sokka had thrown his boomerang and ushered Zuko away from that crazy, nuts-o, actually-pretty-in-the-way-a-raging-house-fire-was-pretty girl. 

Sokka was deeply unnerved by her. 

Sokka wanted to believe the stuff Azula had said to his friend- and he _did_ consider Zuko a friend, now- in that town. 

But the way Zuko reacted, it wasn’t right. Sokka didn’t know if it was something Azula said, or if Zuko was nuts, but Zuko had looked about ready to tear Azula apart in that moment. 

Now Zuko hardly looked like anything at all. 

He was hardly eating- which wasn’t too surprising. Nobody was. But Zuko wasn’t eating parts of what little food they managed to scrape together, and it wasn’t like he didn’t like it, because Sokka had seen him eat that stuff before. 

But as a result, he was getting gaunt in the face. And he was always isolating. He didn’t talk at dinner, or get into any fake arguments, or offer insight. He pitched his tent and he’d spend as much time in there as possible. 

So Sokka decided, while Aang got bullied by Toph to earthbend already, they were going on a bonding hunting trip. 

“Hey, Zuko!” He cheered, outside of Zuko’s tent, while Toph rearranged rocks in the distance. Zuko pushed open the tent flap, all cheekbones and a scowl that, previously, might have made Sokka engage Back The Fuck Off mode. 

No longer.

“What?” He almost-growled. 

“We’re going hunting. Grab your swords and c’mon!” Sokk grinned. Zuko scowled. 

“No.” 

“Good sir, I’m afraid you have no choice!” 

“What are you going to do if I don’t come?”

“Annoy you until you get your ass up!” 

“. . . Give me a sec.” 

A resounding success, as far as Sokka was concerned. 

Somewhere, Aang was getting yelled at to pick up his knees. 

“We’re not killing that, right?” Zuko asked, quietly. 

“Of course we are,” Sokka hissed. 

“It’s a baby. It’s not even big enough to feed the group. It would just be a waste. We really should just let it grow up first.” 

Sokka. . . didn’t have an argument. 

“Come on. Do you know any trap designs? We could be here a few days.” Zuko spoke up, and the tiny animal scuttled away. “Oh, yeah. And we should be careful. That thing’s mother is probably around here somewhere.” 

Zuko was. . . surprisingly focused. And moving already. So Sokka fell into step. 

“Yeah, I know some basic stuff.” Sokka shrugged. “I didn’t bring any rope, but. You know.” 

“Is there spare rope on Appa?” 

“. . . Maybe? I’d have to ask Katara.” Zuko glared at Sokka. “Alright, was that for mentioning Katara, or for not being sure?” 

“. . . Not knowing. Katara would be fine if she would stop breathing down my neck about everything all the time.” Zuko huffed. “As if I don’t already have enough problems.” 

“Yeah.” Sokka nodded. “Your whole shit is really rough right now.” 

Zuko looked at him with vague distrust and confusion. 

“I mean, really talking to your sister for the first time in three years has gotta be really weird, right?” 

“. . . More like terrifying,” He grumbled. “She used to set small animals on fire for fun.” 

“Oh. Yikes. All Katara would do was waterbend my snow forts down.” 

“That sounds shitty.” Zuko shrugged. Was he. . . was he trivializing his own trauma right now?? 

“Yeah. Kinda. I. . . You know, I just wanted to know what was up with you. You’re barely eating, you look like shit, and you won’t even argue anymore. What’s up, dude?” 

“Nothing’s up.” Zuko squared his shoulders. “Nothing changed. You’re just reading into things.” 

“Nope. You can't deflect this one, Zuko. You’ve gotta tell me what’s up.” Sokka stopped walking. Zuko also stopped walking. 

“. . . It’s just what Azula said. It’s really getting to me.” 

“The spirit brainwashing thing?” Sokka asked. “You know how totally crazy that sounds, right?” 

“Yeah, yeah. I know. And it _does_ sound ridiculous. I mean, Aang really seems to just be, like. A twelve year old kid, you know? And it was completely my idea to fall in with you guys. I wanted to! It was my choice!” He frustratedly gestured. “But the idea that it _wasn’t_ my idea is messing with me! No matter what I thought at the start, Aang is just a little kid who can bend all the elements, and that’s it, right? Like, it would be fucking ridiculous to think that he could have mind controlled me.” 

“Yeah? It seems like we’re on the same page?”

“But, like, Sokka, we don’t know anything about the Avatar! We don’t know what he’s capable of. We can’t know the full scope of his power. We can’t possibly. And isn’t it weird how he just makes friends wherever he goes?!” He insisted. 

“. . . Alright, say you’re right.” Sokka humored. Even though Zuko was looking. . . very not crazy! He was definitely not crazy-looking right now! He looked just. . . _so_ sane right now. With that gaunt face, and that wild look in his eyes, and the slightly shaking hands. 

“I might not be!” 

“. . . Alright but let’s _say_ you’re right.” Sokka soothingly replied. “Why would the Fire Nation keep hunting them? Wouldn’t he just brainwash them into stopping trying to hurt them?” 

“. . . Oh.” Zuko looked to fall into very deep thought for a moment. “. . . Maybe he-” 

“Dude. Come on. Think about it. He’s so distressed about Katara hating you. Wouldn’t he just change that? And why train so hard to beat up the Fire Lord if he could just mind-bend him into not being an evil dickhole anymore?” 

“Maybe because- because- he has to make it past the guard’s defenses??” He puzzled out. 

“But why not brainwash them too?” 

“. . . Maybe there’s a limit?” 

“Yeah, sure? Alright. And maybe he can bend bones and enter people’s nightmares to drive them mad!” Sokka wiggled his fingers. Zuko startled. 

“You think??” He hissed. 

“No, dumbhead. I think Aang is just some fuckin’ kid who is allowed to do four different types of magic and can enter the spirit world. I’m pretty sure it’s about that simple.” Sokka knocked him on the shoulder. “And even if he wouldn’t, think about what we’re standing against, you know? Think about the facts.”

“. . . Yeah. My forefather’s war really has gone on long enough.” Zuko sighed, running his hands through his hair. “I just. . . it’s a conflict, you know? It’s just that, my whole life, I’ve been taught that this is a just war, and that I’m supposed to be happy, right? But people are dying. My people, and the other people of this world. It’s not ok. And I don’t know that the Fire Nation can win this war. Logically, it should be the right thing to do, to follow you guys, right?” 

“. . . I guess it would, right?” 

“But I’m going against my Father. And everything I’ve ever known.” 

“It’s gotta be hard.” 

“It. . . it really is.” Zuko let out a nervous laugh. “. . . It’s weird. I feel like I could just tell you anything.” 

Sokka shrugged. “I’d listen, dude. It’s what friends are for.” 

Zuko froze a little, and then smiled, so slightly. 

“Yeah. Friends.”


	30. The Scroll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The scroll is finally addressed! And so is Yue's waterbending.

“Hey, dude, what’s up with that scroll that Iroh left, by the way?” Sokka asked, a goose-rabbit slung over his shoulder. Zuko was surprised they’d managed to get to anything. 

“. . . Oh! Agni, I forgot.” He frowned. “I was so busy with my theories about Aang that I just- didn’t read it.” 

“I- Really??? Your guardian left you an ominous scroll and you just mentally peaced out on it??” Sokka’s incredulous smile managed to make Zuko laugh. 

“I think seeing Azula might have put me just a little out of it. It’s super-mega-bullshit that she can just show up and make me all. . .” Zuko made a gesture that didn’t clarify anyone and considered it done. 

“Yeah.” Sokka nodded. “Yeah. Well, we should hurry back, because I’m starting to get super curious.” 

“Bold of you to assume that I’m gonna show you.” Zuko nudged Sokka on the shoulder. Sokka made a mock couple-of-steps to the side and came back, knocking Zuko a few steps to the side of his own. 

When they got back, Aang managed to punch a rock and it moved a few inches. Katara cheered, and Toph punched Aang’s arm. 

“Hey! You finally did, like, a basic-ass move!” Sokka cheered. “And we, more amazingly, bring with us dinner!” 

“Oh, wow. That’s the most useful you’ve been since Gaoling!” Toph declared. 

“Good job, Sokka!” Yue grinned, draping over the side of Appa’s saddle. The saddle was just chilling out on the ground, but she seemed to have decided it was the most comfortable spot. 

“Ah, well, I mean,” Sokka made a “psh” noise. “No, no, I mean- Zuko helped, a lot, I probably wouldn’t have caught anything without Zuko.” 

“He would have gotten stuck in a crack without me, yeah.” Zuko agreed, dumping his swords near his tent. Sokka shot him a short glare. “And hopefully, those snares will get us food for tomorrow.”

“Oh that would be great,” Yue smiled, folding her arms over the saddle’s edge and resting her chin on it. They’d stopped and bought her clothes, fairly soon after they were sure that Azula wouldn’t come find them again. 

Fucking Azula.

Zuko rooted through his small bag of stuff and pulled out the (miraculously undamaged) scroll Uncle had left on Appa’s saddle. He stuck his head back out of the tent and wandered over to the empty saddle to join Yue. 

“What’s that?” She asked, as Aang punched another rock. 

“The scroll Uncle left before he went to Ba Sing Se.” Zuko replied, opening it slowly. 

“ _Zuko,_

_Now that your path has begun to collide with the path of the Royal Family, I’m concerned that you might need to learn this move- despite that you are not yet a master firebender. I invented this myself, after studying waterbenders._

_This is a technique to redirect lightning created by a firebender. It is imperative that you-_ ” 

What followed were instructions and rudimentary drawings. 

“. . . Interesting.” Zuko hummed. 

He wondered if Uncle knew that Azula was out there, blasting shit open with lightning. 

If not, that was one crazy coincidence. 

“What’d he leave you?” Sokka asked, from where he was working on skinning the goose rabbit. 

“Stop making it sound like he’s dead.” Zuko stuck his tongue out. 

Sokka answered with a raspberry back. 

“Anyways, it’s a bending move. He figured out a way to redirect lightning, apparently.” Zuko humed. He paused. “Oh, shit! That’s totally what he did during that storm!” he smashed his fist into his thigh, annoyed he’d never thought about it before. He’d never even asked. 

“Like Azula did when she was chasing us?” Yue asked. 

“Yeah. So it would be useful to know how to, you know, not get murdered like that. 

“Ssssspeaking of bending, actually.” Sokka sidled over, having wiped his hands off. “Now that you’re better. . . What was up with that whole wave situation?” 

Yue had been in and out of consciousness for a few days. She’d finally managed to really wake up today- about two days from the new moon. So, technically, she’d be leaving soon. 

And maybe not coming back. 

“Sokka, use your brain.” Zuko demanded (read: begged). 

“I would never and how dare you accuse me of such a thing,” Sokka stuck his tongue out. 

“I’m part of one of the original waterbenders. I was bound to pick up a trick at some point.” Yue shrugged.

“Do. . . You want to train with Katara and Aang? Katara’s technically a master.” Sokka pointed out. 

“Oh. . . I wouldn’t want to step on their toes, I’m just a beginner, and-” 

“Yue, you’re travelling with us. You should at least ask for basic self defense training. I mean, I’d help teach you, but I’d only be able to teach you about swords, I’m afraid.” ZUko sighed. 

“. . . You’d teach me sword fighting?” She asked, a little meekly.

“. . . You’d want to learn sword fighting?” He asked, side eyeing her. She didn’t have that much muscle mass, but. . . 

She could learn. Anybody could, with practice. 

“Well, I would certainly prefer being able to defend myself in either way, to be honest.” Yue smiled, shyly. 

“I can ask Katara for you, if you want.” Sokka offered. “She can teach you some really base stuff.” 

“That. . . Would be nice. Knowing how to actually channel my power would be nice.” Yue nodded, slowly. “When I bent, it was like. . . I felt nothing, and then I felt everything, all at once- it was terrifying. And exciting?” She frowned. “I’d like to know how to really control it.” 

“Bending can be really strange.” Zuko agreed. “I remember bending because I was throwing a tantrum once. I managed to breathe fire, but it burnt me because it wasn’t careful. I caught a tapestry on fire. It was not great.” 

“Yikes.” Sokka offered. 

“Yeah, not the worst thing to happen to me. At least I learned to shut the hell up most of the time.” Except when it had really mattered, of course, but. You know. 

“Hey, guys, what are you-” Katara wandered over. 

“Can you teach Yue some basic bending stuff?” Sokka interrupted. “Oh, and Zuko can redirect lightning now.” 

“In _theory,_ with _practice_.” Zuko corrected. 

“I- sure? Of course, I mean. Sorry. Aang and I are actually going to go over some stuff now so his knuckles can heal a bit. He’s having a tough time. If you want to join-” 

“Oh! I- sure!” Yue brightened. “I mean- if you don’t ming, I’m sure not to be very talented, and-” 

“Aang and I won’t mind at all.” Katara smiled. “Come on! It’ll be fun.” 

Zuko thought about, briefly, how unfair it was that Yue was welcomed but he was not. 

\-------------------------------------------

Yue was nervous. That was the first thing Aang realized as she stood at the edge of the nice little oasis. 

“It’s not too hard. This one you can do alone. Try pushing and pulling the water at the edge of the pool toward you and away from you, shifting your weight back and forth, like this.” Katara made a small portion of the oasis eb and flow. Yue began slowly imitating the movements. 

Nothing happened. 

“You’re too stiff.” Katara commented. “If you relax a bit, you can really feel the water.” 

“. . . Alright.” Yue apprehensively breathed in, and out, and began doing the movement all wrong. 

“No, here, like this.” Katara walked over and gently corrected her stance, and then began slowly moving her through the stance. “And then you pull back like this, and push like this.” 

“Oh! I see.” Yue smiled, and the water began to obey her, lapping farther and farther up the gravelly beach. “It’s harder to do alone,” She shyly commented. 

“We can try a two-person move, if you’d like. Then we can try to do three. We’ve never done three before, right Aang?” KAtara walked up to her waist in the water.

“Nope!” Aang cheerily answered. 

Yue smiled. It was nice to have somebody to practice with.


	31. What Does A Sword Do If You're Literally the Moon?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yue starts playing with long knives

“Here. You can use my swords to train.” Zuko held out the pair of swords in their sheath, stoically, to Yue. She’d had time to wake up, to breathe. It was time. And Katara was _not_ stealing her today. Yue was _his_ student today.

“I-” Yue began, grabbing the sheath. “Oof! La, these are heavy.” she quickly brought her second hand to support them. 

“They’re swords. Why would they be especially light?” 

“There’s two in here?” She asked, incredulous. “It looks like _a_ sword.”

“I- _did_ say swords, right?” 

“You hiss your s’s a bit.” Yue shyly replied. “And I don’t- well, I don’t listen very well.” 

“Oh! Oh! I have that!” Aang spoke up, from near the fire. “My brain works faster than my mouth and somebody says something and I won’t get it until later.” 

“I just forget, sometimes.” Yue murmured. “Like I know I heard, but I can’t remember.” 

“Mm.” Zuko nodded. “Anyways. Uh- Swords. Those are _dao_. They’re twin broadswords. They’re like two halves of the same weapon. They’re- well, I probably wouldn’t have taught you on these first, but they’re all I have and they’re the only swords I really know.” 

Sokka was staring at the swords, and Zuko wasn’t really so sure what that was supposed to mean. 

“I mean, I was taught other kinds of sword fighting, but I don’t remember all that well.” Zuko shrugged. “It’s just not something I could really keep a hold of without practicing, and I only really had the _dao_ when I left home. So. . . yeah. I guess you’re learning the _dao_.” 

“Well, I think I can live with being the badass waterbender princess with _two_ swords.” She snarked, bumping Zuko’s shoulder. “Come on, start guiding me through working with these things. I’m curious!” 

“Well, first you need to know how to hold them. . .” Zuko was in his element. He knew swords, he knew how he did swords, he could help Yue do swords. 

And she was good at them. She was weak, but she was good. She understood where to place her feet, and she was good at working the swords as the same weapon. He didn’t start her on anything advanced- he wasn’t dumb- but she was interested, and listened, and asked questions. 

But they couldn’t practice nearly as long as he wanted, because her arms got too tired. He recognized that, if he was any instructor worth his flame, he’d push her to keep going. 

But. . . Yue was Yue. What was he supposed to do, shout at her? 

So he let her sit down and drink and laugh with Aang about some dumb joke he told. 

“Zuko.” Sokka had, within the last few minutes, walked up to him. 

“You look constipated.” Zuko greeted him. Because he did. He was all stiff. And his mouth was pressed together. 

“I want to talk! And I’m not constipated. You’re- You’re constipated!” 

“I am _not_ ,” Zuko folded his arms. 

“Ok, ok, bad start.” Sokka held his hands up. “The point is- I mean- Damn it.” Sokka growled. “We’re talking about this later,” He insisted, pointing at Zuko’s chest, and stomped off to go do. . . something.

Zuko walked to the fire. “Aang. Sokka’s your friend. What was that about??” 

“What was what about? I was talking with Yue about otter penguins.” Aang looked up from the stick he’d been slowly burning by sticking it in the fire and then blowing it out. 

“He just walked up to me and said we needed to talk and then sort of freaked out by himself and stomped away.” 

“What did you say?” Toph asked, in the resigned sort of way that Uncle would have asked what he’d set of fire while yelling. 

“I didn’t _say_ anything,” Zuko grumbled. 

“Like anyone believes that,” Yue giggled. 

“I could make you do more sword exercises, Yue,” Zuko pointed out, adopting an aloof tone and posture. 

“Oh, please no, my arms are all shaky.” She groaned, stretching her arms out and sure enough, tremors of fatigue ran up them. “I wanted to try actually swinging the swords around, but they’re just. . . _heavy_.” She sighed, and put her arms back in her lap. 

“I bet they’re not that heavy. What, never lifted anything heavy before, Princess?” Toph snarked. 

“Not. . . really. I did a little traditional dancing, but nothing that would make my arms strong.” Yue kicked the dirt. “It wasn’t a princess’s place to work by the docks or anything.” 

“Wait, you’re _actually_ a princess??” Toph sat up all the way. “Why doesn’t anybody tell me shit around here?!” 

“We- you didn’t know?” Yue frowned. 

“No! Why would I just assume you were a princess?!” 

“. . . Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn’t know.” Aang hummed. “Weird. Yeah, Yue’s from the Northern Water Tribe. And their princess.” 

“And she just up and left?”

“I’m right here?” 

“And you just up and left?”

“Well, not really on purpose.” 

“OH, because that’s specific.” Toph sank back down, rolling her eyes. 

Zuko admired the pure venom coming out of that child. She was so tiny, and so scathing all at once. He couldn't stack up. 

“And you, Zuko, right?” Toph pointed at him. “What’s your fucking story?” 

“I’m the Fire Prince.” 

“Get the fuck out, dude.” She shot forward a second time, nearly identically to the first time. 

“You’re going to make yourself motion sick if you keep doing that,” Yue frowned. 

“Oh, shut up, Your Royal Iceness.” 

“Be nice to Yue.” Zuko insisted. 

“Yeah!” Aang frowned. “She’s nice!” 

“Whatever. You guys are travelling with the fucking Fire Lord’s crotch goblin?!” 

“That’s. . . an interesting thing to call a child,”Aang hummed while everybody started laughing a little too hard. 

“It’s the best description!” Toph flailed a hand. 

“It’s fine. Father has done things that make him unfit for the throne. My grandfather did the same. They were never fit to rule. They twisted my nation. So I’m going to help Aang get him off the throne. And heal my people, and the wounds they’ve caused. It’s going to end before Sozin’s comet. It has to.” He stared into the fire. Or through the fire. Nah, he wasn’t staring at anything anymore, he was just sitting there with open eyes. 

“ _Damn_ , that was dramatic!” Toph cackled. “What, you practice that?” 

“N-no!” He stuttered. “I didn’t! Shut up!” 

“Oh my _spirits_ , you totally rehearse!” Yue snorted. “You’re a theater kid!” 

“I AM NOT!” He roared, indignantly. 

“He is!” Aang accused him. 

“I DON’T EVEN OWN THEATER SCROLLS! SHUT UP!” 

Nobody believed him. 

\-------------------------------------------

Yue knew she had to leave, soon. She knew it on the day that she woke up, arms wobbly and aching still from holding the swords, that the moon would be absent from the sky when the sun set. She would have to leave again. 

But she still sat up, and she still sorted herself out for the say, and she still sat around the morning fire to talk with her new friends. 

Zuko was still stewing from the debacle the day before- the theater incident. He’d grown up to be so dramatic- but he had time to grow some more. She wasn’t too worried. 

She did worry that she’d watch Zuko grow, cold and distant and ageless and passing the force of an entire world between her and a dance partner that she has always known and never known. She worried that even though her light would reach Sokka, that Sokka would never feel her affection. She worried that even though she guided rays to the earth for Aang, that Aang would never feel her guidance. She worried that though she may laugh at Toph’s disposition, Toph would never hear her. 

And she worried that she would grow to understand Katara, but never bridge the gap between her and Zuko. 

What if she wasted her precious time, her one opportunity to stay on the plane where her loved ones lived? She never would have hugged her mother tightly, or let her father hug her tighter. She would never smile at her kind servants and thank them one final time, or look at her home again. Because she appeared at Zuko’s side instead of their’s.

Because her friends were more important to her than her tribe, her people, her family. 

But was Zuko not her family? Were Sokka and Katara and Aang and Toph not her family? 

She sighed, and rubbed her eyes. Zuko was talking with Sokka. Sokka was insisting on something, and seeming composed while doing it. 

Until Zuko laughed at him, that was. 

“That’s it?” He chuckled. “That’s what you lost your mind about yesterday?” 

“Stop laughing, I’m serious!” 

“Sokka, I’ll teach you how to use the _dao_ if you want.” Zuko promised, crossing his arms. 

“Ooh! Ooh! Can I join?!” Aang asked. 

“I only have one set of _dao_ ,” Zuko grumped. “I can’t teach all three of you at once.” 

“We can buy some! Or I can use-”

“If you’re going to say sticks, I’m going to lose my mind.” Zuko deadpanned. 

“- Not sticks!” Aang finished, awkwardly. 

“If you can muscle up the funds for two decent pairs of _dao_ , I’ll teach everyone. Until then, I’m gonna teach Yue when she’s here, Sokka when she’s gone.”

“Why not me?!” Aang whined. 

“You know three types of bending, Aang. Sokka has a boomerang.” 

“But Yue has bending, and you’re teaching _her_!”

“Yue asked first. And she’s much nicer to be around than you.” 

“Oh! Burn!” Sokka crowed, and Aang pouted. 

Yue giggled. 

“I don’t see why you’re all fighting over him.” Katara proclaimed as she stoked the fire. 

“Because his sword skills are sick, Katara. I want to learn a kickass skill too, and I can’t exactly go to school for it. There’s a war happening right now.”

“And I wanna look cool!” Aang grinned. “But I guess he’s right. He’s gonna teach me firebending after Toph’s done with me, so that’s alright. I’ll learn swords after the war and do a cool dance with them!” 

“Mm, then you’ll want to learn with a different set of swords.” Zuko hummed. 

“Well, you look like you’re dancing when you fight with your swords.” 

“I do not!” Zuko scoffed. “It’s a traditional art that you wouldn’t understand. It’s not a dance. It’s deadly.”

“Monk Gyatso had a story about people who danced themselves to death, though?” 

“That’s a story, and also not what I’m doing.” 

“Alright, alright. Dancypants.” 

“Ooh, I like that one.” Toph spoke up.

“Toph, no.” Zuko groaned. 

“Toph, yes.” She grinned. “Don’t worry, dancypants.” 

“I’m _worrying_ ,” He whined. 

“I’d distract you by asking for lessons, but my arms really do hurt.” Yue smiled sadly at Zuko. 

“It’s fine.” He immediately calmed down to assure her. “Besides, Sokka wants to try. So I’ll just have him go for it.” 

“Wait- now?” 

“Sure. Why not? We can go check the snares and then I can get you started.” Zuko suggested. 

Sokka blinked. 

“I- sure! Yeah! I’ll grab my stuff, hold on.” 

\-------------------------------------------

“Zuko?” Yue tugged on Suko’s sleeve. 

“What’s up, Yue?” He asked. It was late afternoon, now. He’d been working on sharpening the _dao_.

“Could you stay up with me, tonight?” She asked, shyly. “I- I think I’m going to go back. I don’t want to be alone. I want to ask Sokka too.” 

“Oh, Yue, of course.” He frowned. “I wouldn’t- yeah, of course.”

“Like. . . I know I’ll be ok, you know? I know I’ll become one with the Moon again, and I’ll be alright, but it’s. . . scary up there. It’s cold, not that i can feel it up there. And distant. And quiet. I can’t feel almost anything while I’m there. I don’t remember names, or why I feel ways about people. I don’t want to go, even though I know I have to, and that it’s important, and that I’ll be okay.” She hugged herself, gently. 

And then Zuko did it for her. 

“Well, when you come back, you know I’ll be right here. And the time will pass, and before you know it, you’ll be right here and I can bully you about _dao_ practice.”

Yue smiled. 

“Thank you, Zuko.” She smiled, hugging him back. 

He smelled of the campfire and something spicy.


	32. Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko bonds with Toph, and worries about the moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about being MIA and this chapter being choppy, my brain's been in meltdown mode for a hot minute. I'm back though!

Yue was gone for a week when they went to seek the library. 

Zuko didn’t like sand. But the clouds were gone from the sky, and Zuko could see the waxing moon, growing from the dark night sky that Yue had disappeared into. Zuko wondered if she was pulling slowly in her mind, or if it was one fluid motion like Katara and Aang could do. 

He hoped that to her, the time passed that quickly. And he wished he could have stopped Zhao so Yue could live normally. 

She should just live life as a normal sixteen year old. She deserved it. She was just a child. 

He was a child, too. 

They all were.

“It’s not fair, is it, Yue?” He asked. Everybody was asleep. It was alright. They hadn’t yet gotten to the edge of the desert, and so. . . rest. Before Katara’s dumbass vacation was underway. 

Zuko kept talking

“We’re still kids. Aang is twelve, and he has to commit murder to end this all. You’re a spirit, now, Yue. Do they all have such a cruel sense of humor?” 

There was no answer. 

Zuko stared at the pai sho table in the corner of the oasis’s cantina. The old man playing was using the same general strategy that Uncle often used. He had developed a rather annoying habit of noticing when some poor bastard was about to get beat by it. He walked over after Aang bumped into some man. He was Not Associated With The Stupid Arrow Kid. 

“You’re looking with some great interest, young man. It isn’t often that I see a young person take such an interest in pai sho anymore.” The man made conversation as he moved the tile he’d chosen for his turn. His opponent stared at the board grimly. 

“My uncle had an affection for the game.” Zuko replied. The man gave him an approving look. 

“Perhaps when I win this game, you’d like to weigh your Uncle’s knowledge against mine?” 

The competitor scowled. 

“Well, he didn’t really teach me all of his tricks.” Zuko shrugged. 

“A good pai sho player would never.” The old man agreed. 

“I think he just preferred beating me constantly.” Zuko huffed. The old man chuckled. 

“Of course, young man, why else play the game?” 

“He said it was never about winning.” He rolled his eyes. “But he probably just wanted to sound wise.” 

“Oh, have more faith. Maybe he was teaching you to be a graceful loser!” The old man cackled. 

“Zuko! We’re making plans, come here!” Zuko flinched at the use of his name. 

He gave an awkward half wave to the old man, whose eyes he could feel on his back as he walked to where the idiots were sitting with the guy Aang ran into earlier. 

“I want to take my vacation to the library!” Sokka declared as he walked over. 

“Uh, what?” Zuko asked. 

The guy Aang ran into stood up, bustling with a large backpack and grabbing Zuko’s hand to shake it vigorously. “Oh, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University. It’s wonderful to-” 

“Meet me. Yeah. I’m. . . Lee. I have an Uncle in Ba Sing Se.” Zuko shook back. 

“Oh! I would never have guessed.” He grinned. “I’m sure you’ve visited the city, then?” 

“No, actually. Never been.” 

Aang opened his mouth, and Zuko glared at him. 

“Well, I would love to show you around the campus some day. You look nearly old enough to be one of my students!” He declared, laughing and clapping Zuko’s shoulder.” 

“Oh, he’s younger than he looks.” Toph declared. Everyone looked at her. “Or. . . So I’m told, at least.”

“Yeah, he’s actually only 13-” Sokka began.

“THAT IS NOT TRUE!” Zuko snapped. 

“Very tall for a thirteen year old,” the professor mused. “But the attitude. . . tracks.” 

“I’m sixteen!” He insisted. “I won’t stand for this! I’m going to Appa!” 

“Oh, actually that’s the plan. We’re going to Wan Shi Tong’s library.” Katara spoke up. 

“FINE!” He yelled, and stormed out. He stopped by the board. “You can’t make that move. Push that piece there.” Zuko stopped to correct the poor bastard fighting the old pai sho man. Then he stormed out, because he was Angry. He walked right past his wanted poster. 

Toph had a highly unappreciated sense of humor, and Zuko was pretty sure it was the only reason he didn’t go crazy on the ride over, with that damn professor tittering on and on. 

Zuko sat next to Toph, arms draped over the thick leather of the saddle and chin digging into his right arm as he looked over endless expanses of nothing but hot sand. He closed his eyes for five seconds, opened them, and it felt like nothing had changed. 

Like they were just hovering. 

But the dunes did move, they were just boring as anything. 

“Hey! There it is!” Toph’s voice interrupted the professor’s ramblings, and everybody went to follow her pointing hand before realizing she was blind. 

“ _That’s_ what it’ll sound like when one of you spots it.” She declared, and Zuko cackled. 

Nobody else really found that as funny as Zuko did. 

Zuko wasn’t going down there. Hell no. Definitely not. 

“Think about all the books, guys!” Katara tried to coax him and Toph. 

“She’s blind.” Zuko replied. 

“Hey, let me make my own rebuttals!” Toph slugged him in the arm. 

Fucking ouch. 

“Zuko? Come on, there’s probably all sorts of play scrolls.” She wheedled. 

“Fuck. No.” He ground out. And then paused. “Sokka, you’re in charge of getting me play scrolls.” 

“What do I get of it??” 

“I’ll teach you an advanced sword trick.” 

“. . . Alright fine!” Sokka snapped. “Come on guys. Toph, Zuko, make sure Appa doesn’t. . . I don’t know. Do something bad for his health.” 

“Appa, buddy, you guard Zuko and Toph.” Aang patted Appa’s nose. 

Appa groaned back and flopped onto the hot sands. And so began a very boring wait.

“. . . So what’s your deal?” Toph asked, eventually. She was trying to bend sand while leaning against Appa, but it was a work in progress. 

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked, frowning. He’d decided to sit in Appa’s saddle. They’d coaxed him to move into the shade of the only part of the spirit library that remained aboveground, so they were at least not dying of sunstroke. 

“How did twinkletoes rope you into joining? You’re the shitlord’s son, and you have a crazy sister, you’re very sulky and you like swords, and that’s about all I know about you. Tell me something entertaining!” 

Zuko pursed his lips for a moment. “Well, I spent three years on a boat trying to chase down the Avatar.” 

“Didn’t he-” 

“Only reappear after a century about a year ago? Yeah.” Zuko folded his arms. 

“Wow. That’s not great. Why did you do that?” 

“My father told me to. He said I could come home when I did.” 

There was a long pause. “Hey, I think-” 

“That he didn’t really want me back all that much?” 

“Yeah. Sorry.” 

“Yeah. I think so too.” 

“Sounds like a dick.” 

Zuko laughed. “Yeah, the more you think about his actions, he’s sort of a douche.” 

“I mean, he is invading nations.” The sand fell from the tower she’d been trying to pull up. “Spirits damned ass hog monkey fuckers,” She punched the sand, frustrated.

“You sound like the sailors on the piers.” He stretched out. 

“I _sound_ like the earthbenders back home.” She corrected. “I’d love to see Boulder try and bend the sand.”

Calling upon his memories of Earth Rumble VI, he managed to formulate a half-decent response. “He seemed like he was. . . interesting.” 

“Oh, yeah. You know he _always speaks in third person_? The _Boulder_ would like the Blind Bandit to know that he is going to _beat_ her next time!” She made an obnoxious flexing-and-pointing motion while deepening her voice and adding a little (Agni forgive this pun) gravel to it. 

“Holy shit, really?” 

“Yeah, dude. It’s kinda weird.” 

“Well, I mean. Commitment to the bit, at least.” 

“Oh, yeah. I mean, _my_ bit was being twelve, and I did that out of the ring.” 

Zuko answered with a laugh. 

Maybe being out in the desert like this wouldn’t be too bad.

Of course, that’s about when the ground began to tremble and the library began sinking.


	33. It's a Long, Long Way To Ba Sing Se. . .

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drop the library! And other fun things you might hear if you're friends with the Avatar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm begging another thousand pardons for what might be a scattered chapter and what certainly is a late chapter. I've been having a hard time write more than a hundred words a day, hence the long long chapter breaks here. I'm hoping to swing back onto my bullshit soon, but just be patient.

“THE LIBRARY’S SINKING!” Toph leapt up and hovered around the spire that had begun disappearing into the sand. She struck it, sinking her hands into the white bricks, but it only served to drag her down too. 

She solidified that ground below her and tried again. It obviously strained her, but it made the library stop, though it shook and groaned against her. 

Zuko was on his feet too, but his only help was swearing violently. Which maybe wasn’t helping. 

Who knew?

“Somebody’s coming!” Toph yelled. “Who’s there?” 

“Uh- those creepy sand benders.” Zuko shouted back. “I think.” 

“Oh great. No, that’s cool.” Toph groaned, digging her hands further into the bricks. “What could they possibly want??” 

“Friendly conversation?” Zuko asked, hopefully. Toph barked out a sharp laugh. At least she thought it was funny. 

“Wait- shit, were they the ones all over Appa before we left?” Toph asked. 

“Yeah- . . . Oh.” Zuko’s stomach dropped. They wanted Appa. 

“Can you fight them?” She asked. 

Zuko tried to spark anything, any sort of flame. 

Smoke coughed out of his palm. 

“Not that many.” He shook his head.

“Alright, get on Appa. Get him up far enough that they can’t get him.” 

Zuko’s mouth felt drier than it already had. “But what about-”

“Fucking do it, Sparky!” 

Zuko glanced at the approaching gliders, shuddered. 

“See you soon.” 

“Fuck _off_ ,” She responded, and Zuko took that as his cue to climb onto Appa. 

“Alright, boy. Yip yip.” He yelled, gripping the reigns from as far back in the saddle as he could affordably be. 

Appa groaned and took off, a beat of his tail coating Toph in sand. 

Zuko tried not to _scream_ as they got further and further from the earth. 

\-------------------------------------------

“What the fuck?” Toph heard the sandbender swear as their feet hit the sand somewhere behind/to the left of her. Damn the shifting sands. 

“We can’t get to-” 

“I know! Hey kid!” 

“Kinda busy here, fucknuts.” She grunted back. 

“What do you-” 

“The damn library’s sinking. Shut the fuck up.” They were behind her. They were certainly closer. 

“Library? That’s a _tower_.” Somebody spoke up. 

“Rest of it’s underground.” Her muscles were spasming. Twinkletoes and everyone had better get out soon, or she’d surely lose her grip. And then fucking _kill_ these sand people in a fit of grief-filled rage. Not that she gave a damn about her new travelling party. 

. . . She gave many damns about her new travelling party. 

“How’d it-” 

“OH MY SPIRITS, SHUT THE FUCK UP!” She yelled, managing to push the library up a small amount and displacing the sand underneath. 

Take that, invisible force that was making this very, very difficult. She was winning tug of war. 

At least the sand benders believed her now. And she could hear the group screaming as they exited the spire, and felt their collision with the earth somewhere behind/to the right of her. 

“DROP THE LIBRARY DROP THE LIBRARY DROP IT!!!!” Aang screamed, presumably scrambling to his feet. Toph obliged, her muscles groaning under teh sudden lack fo pressure. She managed to scramble back so the suden displacement of sand wouldn’t catch her up, and collapsed into the sand, letting her body _ache_ for a moment. 

She was strong, she was ripped, the best earthbender to bend the earth, but she was also very small and not yet at the peak of her power. That had been awesome, and she would hold this over everyone’s heads until she eventually died, but also she was going to be sore for days about that. 

She’d be stronger afterwards, but _damn_ those days were gonna suck. 

The sandbenders were still lingering. 

“Uh. . . can we help you guys?” Aang asked, hesitantly. 

“No,” The leader sneered, and Toph felt them all move away vaguely. 

“. . . Alrighty! Have a nice day!” He called after them. “Toph, are you alright?” 

“I’m going to pass out when we get back on Appa, and nobody better fucking wake me up, or so _help_ me. . .” She warned. 

“She’ll be alright if she’s threatening us about naptime.” Sokka dismissed. “Where’s Zuko? And, uh, the big guy?” 

“Up there, somewhere. I told him to get Appa out of here.” Toph waved a hand at the sky. 

“With his fear of heights?!” Aang fretted.

“Oh, sorry, _I_ should have gone up there and let Sparky hold up a whole library. My bad. You know, the _blind_ kid.” 

“. . . She has a point.” Katara supplied. Toph nodded. She knew she was right. 

“Does he- does he know how to _land?_ ” Aang asked, worriedly. 

“Mm, don’t know.” 

\-------------------------------------------

“I didn’t have a choice! The sand benders were trying to capture him, and-”

“I know, Zuko. I’m not mad. You did a good job.” 

Zuko folded his arms and _sulked_ at the back of the bison as Aang gently brought Appa down and let everyone climb aboard. 

“We need to go to Ba Sing Se,” Sokka explained, when they got on bored. Toph curled up next to him, where she usually sat. 

“Where’s the professor?” He asked, as they took off. 

Nobody answered. 

“. . . guys?” 

“The spirit inside the library got angry with us.” Sokka eventually spoke up. “It was my fault. I was trying to find information on how to get the upper hand on the fire nation. It had warned me not to. The professor didn’t want to leave, it- it wasn’t his fault. He came for knowledge’s sake. I ruined it for him. He followed the spirit and it’s library into the spirit world.” 

“. . . damn.” He rocked forwards a little. “That’s. . . wow. Are you guys alright?” 

“It. . . it was his choice to make.” Katara reasoned, a little weakly. 

“I know, but it’s just. . . heavy.” 

“Really heavy,” Sokka agreed. 

“. . .So, Ba Sing Se?” Zuko changed the subject. 

“Yeah. Ba Sing Se. There’s a solar eclipse that’ll make the firebenders lose their power for a short amount of time. We’re going to try and mount an invasion force, and we want the Earth King to lend us soldiers. It’s our best option where Aang doesn’t have to try and fight Ozai at his most powerful.” 

“The day of the black sun?” Zuko asked, confused. “I thought everybody knew about that.” 

“. . . No?” Katara glanced around. 

“One happened about a hundred years ago. I guess it’s about time one came around.” 

“So. . . The fire nation knows?” Sokka asked, slowly. 

“We know a lot of things about the sun, Sokka. Agni is sort of our whole source of power. Duh.” 

“Oh, cool, great.” Sokka sighed, rubbing his face. “Well. . . I guess that just means we _really_ need a hardcore invasion force?” 

“Or just good planning.” Zuko shrugged. “My family is probably going to leave the capital for the eclipse, or hide under it. If the eclipse won’t last long, they might plan to slow us down before we can get to them. If we can find out where they’ll be, we can cut that off at the pass.” 

“You’re. . . really casual about the whole murdering-your-family thing.” Sokka pointed out. Zuko’s stomach rolled a little at the acknowledgement of the fact. 

“I. . . I don’t want them to die. I don’t. I want the idea that my sister could be turned into something good, and the idea that my Father is deep down a good man, to be true. I want to be able to believe that they are what’s best for my country, and the world.” He tucked his knees up to his body. “But they aren’t. Azula would watch the world burn if it made Father happy. And Father. . . he would like nothing less. This is the truth, no matter how hard it is to acknowledge it, I know it’s the truth.” 

“It can’t be easy.” Aang placed a hand on Zuko’s shoulder, having crawled back into the saddle. “But. . . I don’t plan on killing anyone.” 

“How else do you think you’re going to stop my father?” Zuko asked, raising his eyebrows. “And if you do, how are you going to keep him? Imprisoned with destroyed pride and no way to feel the sun? He’d kill _himself_ before he let that happen to him.” 

“Well. . .I. . . There’s got to be a way.” Aang floundered. 

“If we find something before them, sure. But you might just have to come with grips that you’re going to have to-” 

“Let’s talk about something else.” Aang cut Zuko off, looking sick.

“. . . Alright.” 

“We looked for information about Yue.” Katara prompted. 

“You did?” Zuko looked over, smiling. 

“We. . . didn’t find much.” Sokka replied bashfully. “Nothing too helpful, at least. There’s been cases of mortal beings being hosts to spirits- especially Avatars, like Aang did with the ocean spirit. But it’s usually temporary or an animal- and the animal ones are permanent too. There’s theories that spirits can claim a celestial body, if they’re strong enough? Or that they _are_ their celestial body? That part wasn’t clear, but it was about Agni I think. And it mentioned starspirits, but I’ve never heard of that before.” 

Zuko nodded, hesitantly. “. . . Right. Well, it was worth a shot, right?” 

“Yeah. We’ll just need to document what’s up, so if it ever happens again. . .” Sokka trailed off. 

“Hopefully it never will. But at least they’ll know more than us.” 

“Exactly. Isn’t that what life is about?” Sokka asked, looking up. “Just. . . making things easier for those after us?” 

“. . . Alrighty then.” Zuko widened his eyes and looked away. He was working on fitting in, but. . . 

Agni, these people were strange. 

“Have any of you ever been to Ba Sing Se?” He asked. 

“We never left the village before Aang showed up.” Sokka shrugged. “It wasn’t like we were going to, either. Danger all around, you know?” 

Zuko nodded slowly. “That’s what my parents told me.” He saw Katara’s angry shift. “Of course, we were the danger, but. That’s what I believed as a child.” 

“I never got to go to Ba Sing Se.” Aang piped up. “I went to Omashu and Caldera City, but. . . Never really got there. Monk Gyatso was meant to bring me there someday, but we didn't get to it.” 

“I always heard stories. My uncle laid siege to Ba Sing Se and said he admired the strength of the people and the walls.” 

“It’s really got to be wild switching teams after your whole life.” Aang mentioned. 

“Yeah. It’s strange.” Zuko agreed. “It’s a lot of change.” 

Zuko was. . . He’d decided, at some point, that he didn’t care anymore. Fuck everything. He needed to look at the facts, after being _confused_ for so long. That was what people were supposed to do, right? Look at the facts, then you’ll understand?

The facts _were_ that his dad was a massive douche, his grandfather was a massive douche, and his great-grandfather was a massive douche. He came from a long line of people that did horrible horrible things. Except his mother. He didn’t know anything about his mother’s line, actually, so he wasn’t sure about her. But his royal blood was. . . perhaps they were strong, but they’d committed horrible acts of violence. 

This wasn’t about loyalty to his father anymore, nor about the crown. This was about loyalty to his people.

And yes, it was terrifying, the idea of it _should_ have been sending him into a constant spiral. He knew that. He did. 

But he didn’t spiral. He wasn’t afraid of having switched sides. He was just afraid of dying or getting caught before he could incite change. 

“I would imagine.” Aang hummed. “Anyways. I’ll get us the heck outta this desert and we can get ourselves to the great city of Ba Sing Se.” He clambered back out of the saddle and onto Appa’s head, giving him a big pat and hair ruffle as he did so. 

“Gotta admit, I’m rather excited.” Katara smiled. “It should be a cool experience, at least.” 

“And it’ll win a war.” Sokka teased. 

“Well, of course. That too.” She gently shoved him. He shoved back. 

Zuko thought of a different time.


	34. Treasoning Once More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a drill outside of Ba Sing se. There's doubt in the hearts of the young. This is the tragedy of the children of fire.

Iroh had been in Ba Sing Se for about two weeks, and he’d gotten himself an apartment and a deal for his own tea shop. 

It felt like cowardice. 

Of course he was happy. This here, this was all he wanted for so long. Just to settle down away from the capital, from hollow words and the betrayals, and work an honest job for once in his life. 

But his nephew- his son- was out there travelling with the Avatar, risking his life. 

Of course he was glad. Zuko could learn so much by having friends his age, especially the Avatar. He was a wise soul who hadn’t lost his innocence despite, well. . . everything. He made wonderful conversation. And those Water Tribe warriors, the siblings, young Sokka and Katara, offered some perspective to his misguided nephew. Zuko could use that sort of company. And they were showing him his way.

But Zuko was in danger at all times like that. And Iroh never knew where he was. 

Iroh trusted him, and his friends, but Iroh was an old man, and old men liked to worry sometimes. 

But no matter. It was time for work- His last day before moving to The Jasmine Dragon. 

It felt like cowardice. 

\-------------------------------------------

Appa soared over the first wall of Ba Sing Se, and nearly got a rock slammed into his stomach for his trouble.

Aang hopped off of Appa with the fury of the spirits on his tiny, squishy, twelve year old face, leaving Appa circling far, far away from the walls. 

He came back grinning. 

“It was just a misunderstanding. They’re a little on edge out there.” He said as he steered Appa towards the city again. 

“I would be too.” Sokka stretched. “Imagine being the last Earth Kingdom stronghold.” 

“Hey, guys- uh- what the _fuck_ is that?” Zuko asked, pointing down to a large black thing creeping across the long stretch of open land between the woods and the outermost wall. 

“Wow- no, really, that thing’s creepy.” Sokka frowned at it as it crawled. 

“. . . It’s a drill.” Zuko paled. “Holy shit. It’s a fire nation drill. Aang, we’ve gotta land and help out.” 

“. . . Yeah. You’re right. Let’s go, guys.”

The general at the wall was an idiot akin to General Fong. He insisted, the wall would hold, and Zuko laughed, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers glared.. 

“You see that thing? You seriously think your wall is going to survive that? General Iroh got past this wall five years ago with less.” 

“ _General Iroh_ was swiftly removed from the city and the walls were repaired.” Sung dismissed firmly. “We appreciate your attempts to help, Avatar Aang, but I’ve deployed an elite squad of earthbenders called the Terra Team. They’ll stop the tanks and the drill in no time flat, and the city’ll stay as safe as it always is. Ba Sing se means impenetrable city, after all.” 

Zuko watched as two shapes excited the drill and began taking down earthbenders like nobody’s business.

He. . . went ahead and assumed the pink smudge dancing around and leaving bodies in it’s wake was Ty Lee, but he was too far away to reliably tell.

He’d still bet on it being Ty Lee, though. 

“Looks like Azula’s decided she wants in, too.” He muttered. 

“WE’RE DOOMED! THE CITY IS DOOMED!” General Sang howled. Sokka slapped him. 

“Dude! Keep it together. You have the _Avatar_ and his team of badasses on your side.” 

“Yeah. I’m guessing you want our help now?” Toph asked, folding her arms.

“Please, Avatar Aang- all of you- please save Ba Sing Se.” He begged. 

“We’d love to.” Katara smiled. “Sokka?” 

“Awww, why do I have to come up with the plans all the time???” He whined. 

“Because you’re smart?” Zuko replied, like it was obvious. 

“. . .Ah, well, I suppose, yes.” Sokka preened. “I guess I am.”

“Ah, don’t encourage him. I can feel his ego growing from over here.” Toph huffed. 

“You can feel everything from everywhere,” Katara argued. 

“Yeah, well-” 

“Sir! There’s something awfully strange going on with the soldiers that we managed to bring in.”

“They’re probably chi blocked,” Zuko muttered. 

“Well, I’m a healer. I can check them out.” Katara stepped forward, letting herself be led to the hurt soldiers. 

And Zuko had been right, too. Nearly the whole unit laid, immobile in various way, all seemingly uninjured. 

Except the ones getting gashes bandaged, and the green sheets in the back of the room, and the somber medics trying to look away. 

Mai’s path of destruction. 

There were no walls to pin people against out there, no soft pieces of clothing to be accessed under all the armor of the earth benders. Zuko wondered if she knew (she had to have known, her aim was perfect), wondered if it would haunt her, wondered if that was really what Azula had turned that shy girl from all those years ago into. 

Zuko looked away. 

“To think she does all that through pressure points,” Katara sighed after unblocking a young man’s chi. 

“Pressure points. . .” Sokka muttered. “AHA! We need to take the drill down from _inside_!” 

“Nothing that big wouldn’t have support beams on to inside.” Zuko muttered. “They’re probably metal. What’s the plan there?” 

“Katara and I can bend a strand of water and slice away at it. You can try to warm it up and make it malleable-” Aang began. 

“I won’t be able to.” Zuko cut Aang off. 

“What? But your uncle could.” 

“He’s a much better bender than me, and we _shouldn’t be talking about this_ -”

“You’re travelling with us, nobody’s going to go insane and capture you.” Sokka scoffed, knocking him on the shoulder. 

“Better safe than sorry.” Zuko glared. 

“Well, it’s alright. We can stop it either way. Zuko, get your swords from Appa. We’ve got a drill to stop.”

\-------------------------------------------

Mai had been trying not to think since she came back inside. Which made War Minister Qin’s announcement of the engineer’s assault welcome news, and Azula’s beckoning something Mai could deal with. 

But seeing the Avatar and his entourage cutting support beams in the walls of the drill with Zuko placing his hands was about the last thing she wanted to see. Ty Lee tore off after Sokka and Katara, and Azula was hot on the heels of the Avatar, leaving Zuko’s swords against her knives. 

He sat in a readied stance with his swords drawn, tense as she was with her hand holding knives. 

There were no soft walls to pin him to here. There was no such thing as incapacitating, here. If she won, she killed him, or she stalled until he fell, or she stalled until Azula killed him. 

Or she lost.

“Mai.” He cautiously spoke. 

“Zuko.” She answered, tightening her grip on her knives. 

“We don’t have to fight.” 

“You say that every time. You know it’s not true.” 

“It is. We can take you into the city, you can get away from this.” 

“Why would I want to? I’m fighting for my nation. It used to be ours.” 

“This isn’t what’s best for our people, Mai.” 

“How would you know?”

“Because when there was peace, none of our people died under rocks or drowning at sea.” He looked like he was pleading with her, his hair now long enough to cover his eyebrows. 

“Sacrifice is necessary for-” 

Zuko sheathed his swords.

“What are you-” 

“You’re either killing me, Mai, or you’re joining me. You’re not a killer. I’m willing to make that gamble.”

“I can just let you get away.” She replied, paling. 

“Or you could do that. Or you could come with me.” 

“Why?” 

“I already told you why. Come on. You’d like them.” 

“They’re fire nation enemies and you’re _insane_.” She scowled.

“Maybe I am.” He shrugged. “Or maybe I’m right.” 

“Stop,” Mai demanded. Why couldn’t he just try to kill her? Why couldn’t he have just been a stone hearted killer or something??

“You know you don’t want to follow Azula’s orders! You know that it’s all wrong. Please, please, just come with me.” He begged, taking a stop forward. She flung a warning knife whizzing past his ear. 

“Stop!” She spat again. 

“Mai, you’re on the wrong side of history.” He told her, gently. “Come on, you’d love Yue. She’s so nice, she’s from the northern water tribe. I’m teaching her how to swordfight. And Sokka’s so funny, and Aang is so kind, and Toph and Katara are awesome. You’d love them all. They’re just kids like us, Mai. They’re trying to put the world back together.” 

Mai wavered.

“Please. Just come with me.” He asked. 

“I can’t.” She whispered, slowly lowering her knives. 

“I don’t know how many times we’ll meet. Azula doesn’t give up. One of these times, she’s going to try and kill me.” He stared her dead in the eye, dared her to argue. 

She couldn’t. She knew he was right. 

“I don’t know how much time I have _here_ , now. But I know that I want you and Ty Lee to come with us. You two deserve a better life than being towed around by Azula.” 

“We’re. . . We’re not. . .” Mai sighed. She knew it was. She’d seen the change in the girl that used to be her friend. She’d seen it a long time ago. 

The first year they met at the academy, Azula had been in the habit of true smiles. She had a sense of humor, something that could make Mai laugh even when she was upset. She and Ty Lee had been Mai’s respite from her dull home life. 

The next few years after that, Azula had grown crueler and crueler. Mai never necessarily agreed, but. . . Sometimes, she still caught glances of her friend, and that was enough to stick around for.

Not that she could leave. Her parents would never forgive her if she drifted away from the princess. But she’d still wanted to have a genuine friendship with Azula, even if she was the princess and their connection was a political game. 

She was still the girl that gifted Mai her first proper set of throwing knives. She was still the one that joked with her and kept her company when things felt hopeless and the feeling swallowed her whole. 

She hadn’t seen Azula for a long time when Azula had come to Omashu. She was different. They’d exchanged letters, sure, but nothing more than formalities. Azula had talked to Ty Lee different, she’d seen the world different. Azula didn’t joke anymore, not unless it was something cruel. 

When Azula kept her company, it was distant or dismissive. 

She was so focussed on her goals, now. Even if Mai caught glimpses of the girl she’d known, it was brief, so brief, and heartachingly reminiscent, in a way one might feel after seeing a painting of a passed loved one.   
“I’m afraid for her, Zuko.” She quietly stated. 

“I am too. She’s. . . I want to help her, but I know she won’t let me.” 

“I know.”

They stood there for a moment. 

“I. . . I don't want to leave Ty Lee with her. If you can get Ty Lee on board, I’ll. . .” She stopped. “No. She’ll- she’ll kill us.” 

“She’s been trying to kill us too, Mai. She hasn’t done it yet. We’re going to win.” 

“How can you do that? How can you have so much hope?” She asked, quietly, searching for her answers in his golden eye. 

“Because I’ve seen what they can do. What _we_ can do. They’re extraordinary, Mai.” 

Mai paused. “This is a huge decision.” 

“I know. I know it is.” 

They paused. 

“Fuck it. I’m in. Nothing matters and I was going to get assassinated anyways. Come on, dumbass. Let’s go get ourselves killed.” Mai sheathed her knives, a deep pit forming in her stomach, like regret in advance. 

“Wait, really?” 

“Yes! And I have a horrible feeling about it! Please, Agni, just lead the way before I change my fucking mind!” 

“A-alright. Well, first order of operations, um. . . get the fuck out of the rig.” 

“I know a way out. C’mon.” She turned and started to lead him out to the door she’d taken last time she exited the rig. 

“Do you want to talk-” 

“Not really.” She cut him off.

“Good. You know. Because I didn’t either.” 

Mai didn’t want to talk. She didn’t. She was doing something horribly stupid and misguided. She was uncomfortable with this. 

But wasn’t she uncomfortable with hurled knives through the eyes of living men in the name of the memory of a girl she knew when she was younger?

\-------------------------------------------

“Hey Zuko, why the fuck is knife lady joining us?” A mud-covered Sokka asked. 

“I told you I’d get her to join us, Sokka.” Zuko folded his arms. “Water tribe siblings, meet Mai. Mai, meet Sokka and Katara.” 

“Zuko, we’re having a _chat_ about your insane girlfriend joining us when I’m not trapping chi-girl in the pipeline.” Katara ground out. 

“Okay, she’s not my girlfriend, but okay.” 

“You’re drowning Ty Lee?!” Mai exclaimed, horrified. 

“Yes! She’s been trying to kill us!” Sokka flug an arm at the pipe. 

“She’s never killed anyone!” 

“Well, first time for everything.” Katara spat. 

“She’s going to be alright, right?” Mai asked.

“. . .Yes. She’s not in there. I think she’s gone up another hatch.” Katara reluctantly replied. 

“Hey gu- Hey Zuko, why is knife lady here?!” Toph greeted, emerging from a hole in the ground. 

“Toph, this is Mai.” Zuko sighed. “I got her to join us. Mai, this is Toph, she’s a blind earthbender.” 

“Hey.” Mai nodded in Toph’s general direction. 

“‘Sup. So you’re, like, a good guy now? And not gonna betray us?” 

“I don’t think so. But I don’t think I’m gonna try especially hard either.” 

“Valid.” 

“You’re just- you're just taking that at face value?!” Sokka exclaimed. 

“I can sense heartbeats, which speed up when people are lying, dipshit. It’s part of my seismic sense. She checks out.”

“What if I’m just, really good at lying?” Mai asked, folding her arms. 

“That’s not how that works.” Toph folded her arms back. 

“Alright.” Mai shrugged, and turned away. 

“Toph, can you help-”

“Uh, duh I can help, it’s part dirt too.” Toph took a stance and bent the slurry up the pipes with Katara. 

\-------------------------------------------

“Where’s Mai?” Ty Lee asked Azula, who was about as drenched in the gross slurry as she was. 

“I’m. . . Not sure, actually.” Azula looked around. “When did you last see her?” 

Ty Lee thought a moment. “She stayed behind to fight Zuko. Oh, no, you don’t think she. . . lost?” 

“No way.” Azula folded her arms. “She’s a far better fighter than him.” She frowned, obviously a little perplexed. 

“Well, yeah. Maybe they’re still fighting somewhere?” 

“You there!” Azula snapped at an engineer, who dropped into a kneel immediately facing her. 

“Yes, Princess Azula?”

“Where is Mai?” She asked, folding her arms and looking down at him. 

“We haven’t seen her, Your Majesty.” 

“Ugh, you’re all useless. Come on Ty Lee, we’re going to find her ourselves.” 

“Alrighty!” Ty Lee sang, skipping after Azula. She tried to ignore the sinking feeling settling in her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Mai! Thoughts?


	35. Ba Sing Se, The City of A Million Bad Vibes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mai goes through a touch of culture shock joining the Gaang. Zuko vibe checks Ba Sing Se and dislikes the results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY FSHIT GUYS * fukcingigdkj emerges from the grave* IM BACK  
> I had. a crazy past coupla months lads lemme tell ya  
> actually it wasn't crazy I just uhhhhuhgjjghhjjhhh emerged from Executive Dysfunction hell. I'm gonn try and not disappear again but updates.. . .. .uh....... At least once a month I Hope? Maybe more. I've never been reliable sldnfks but anyways WE'RE GUNNING To FINISH bEFORE 2020 IS DEAD AND GONE!  
> I'm not gonna rush through anything, but I don't wanna be writing this fic for longer than a year. That's a Lot for a fic that I've never once ACTUALLY thought through all the way other than some Vague shit. Still got 2 months though so that should hopefuly be enough if I actually write like I used to Back In The Day. Anyways! Enjoy!

“Hey, Zuko, why is-”

“Mai joined us, and Toph’s vetted her through. Mai, the Avatar. Aang, Mai.” Zuko cut Aang off at the top of the wall.

“. . . Ok. I’m Aang.” Aang smiled. “Glad to meet you!” 

“Hey.” Mai replied, obviously unimpressed. She glanced at Zuko as soon as Aang turned away. 

“He’ll grow on you.” 

“No, I like him.” She replied, deadpan. 

“Do you?” Zuko was confused. 

“What do you think, Zuko?” 

Zuko was even more confused. Either way, they were getting on Appa. Mai required no assistance getting into the saddle. She also only barely reacted when they started flying, much to Zuko’s annoyance. 

“Never thought I’d get into the great city on a flying puffball.” She deadpanned, looking down over the rolling farmlands, the vague images of people working in the fields. 

“I never thought I’d get to see Ba Sing Se period.” Sokka replied, almost thoughtlessly, halfway out of the saddle as he looked out and around. 

“Oh?” Mai asked, tilting her head. 

“Oh, yeah. I guess you wouldn’t. . . really. . .know a lot about the group.” Sokka bashfully turned around and sat down. “Katara and I came from the south pole.” 

“You’re remarkably well spoken for someone raised in that environment.” Mai. . . Complimented? ZUko was sure it was meant as a compliment, but it was incredibly offensive. 

There was a moment where everyone made an awkward face. 

“Mai. . . uh. . .” Zuko began. “That was. . .” 

“ _Hella_ racist, my dude.” Toph spoke up. 

“Oh-” Mai put a hand on her mouth. “I’m sorry. I just- I was under the impression that, there weren’t schools, and so- you must have been smart to learn proper dialect-” 

Zuko hadn’t. . . Ever seen Mai flustered before. 

“Our traditions are taught orally.” Katara replied, begrudgingly. “Our elders are like our schools. It’s their jobs to teach us the knowledge the tribe has amassed.”

“It’s easier for us than scrolls because parchment is hard to make with little plant life, and hides need to be used for clothes and blankets and rugs.” Sokka added, more chill than Katara. 

“ _Oh_ ,” Mai nodded, slowly. “Alright. Yeah, that- that makes a lot of sense. I’m so sorry.” 

“That’s. . . well, it’s not really alright. . .” Sokka frowned. “You’re- you’re learning! That’s cool.” 

“Turns out the fire nation tells us a lot of things that weren’t even a little true.” ZUko spoke up softly. “Sokka and Katara aren’t exceptions. I met another member of their tribe. They’re not at all like the scrolls said.” 

“And monks aren’t hereditarily bald!” Aang chimed in. “A lot of us grew hair back after shaving to get our airbending mastery tattoos. One of my past lives had a full head of hair, and she was a _great_ airbender!” 

“That’s. . . great.” Mai nodded slowly. 

“What I don’t really get is how they can lie to a whole nation like that,” Toph huffed. “You’d assume somebody’d crack the case eventually.” 

“Fire Nation people don’t really leave the Fire Nation unless they’re soldiers, and if they’re already fighting, they’ve already been radicalized. It got noble kids like Mai and I because we were particularly sheltered.” Zuko shrugged. “I went to the north, but they didn’t really equate the two tribes together. They said that one chose to understand the new world and the others couldn’t.” 

“. . . Damn. That’s some grade A bullshitting right there.” Toph replied. 

“Yyyyeah.” Katara folded her arms. 

“Hey, at least we know what they’re telling kids there so we know what to show them isn’t true.” Sokka shrugged. 

Zuko tried to look away, but the only place to look was the rolling hills below him. 

“Hey, Zuko!” Aang chimed. “Any idea where Uncle Iroh is? I figure we should go see him since we’re in the city.” 

“No clue, and I don’t have any way of getting to him either. Not sure what fake name he’s going in under.” 

“Fake name?” Katara frowned, then un-frowned. “Actually yeah. Firebenders in the last earth kingdom stronghold. . .” 

“Yeah.” Zuko sighed. “We’ll just have to keep an eye out.” 

“We’ll land at the Earth Palace so we can talk to the king. The general sent a message ahead of us, so they won’t try to shut us down.” 

“I’m so glad everything is almost over,” Katara sighed, happily. 

“Yeah. It’s just a little bit more and we can all go home.” Sokka smiled, placing a hand on Katara’s shoulder. 

“Speak for yourselves,” Toph snorted. “I’m crashing with one of you idiots.” 

“What do you mean, almost over?” Mai asked, frowning and sitting forward. 

“We stumbled across something. There’s a solar eclipse before Sozin’s comet. The firebenders will lose their power, I’ll be able to lock up Ozai without getting burnt up!” Aang cheerfully replied. “And boom, balance restored! I can go do some more penguin sledding!” 

“We need a strong invasion force still, though. We don’t want to take the chance of failing.” Sokka followed up. “So we’re here to talk to the Earth King about lending us forces.” 

“Oh. Wow. Ok. I guess I jumped ship at the right time, then.” Mai blinked, looking down. 

“Yeah. We’re really trying not to kill anyone, though. So. Don’t worry, I guess?” Aang tried. 

“Yeah.” Mai deadpanned back. Aang deflated and focused on steering Appa over the final wall that got them into the sprawling city, with all it’s train tracks and houses, and endless sea of roofs. 

“Hey, is it just me, or is there a huge wall through the city?” Katara asked. 

“There’s two, I think. Look over there. No, Katara, farther than that. Yeah, that wall.” Sokka leaned halfway out of the saddle to point.

“The town looks a lot. . . nicer in that inner circle.” Zuko noticed as he grabbed the back of Sokka’s shirt and hauled him into the saddle.

“Great. More class division.” Toph huffed. 

“Your family is ri-”

“Yeah, and that’s why I know class division is bullshit.” She steamrolled over Sokka.

“Seconded,” Zuko muttered. He’d learned, by travelling with the Avatar and his friends, that people were people no matter what their standings were- that peasants weren’t some uneducated, horrible mass of people, but a whole class of people working harder than the firelord ever could, trying to get by. And they did kind things just to do kind things- no ulterior motives. 

Zuko hadn’t met many people other than Uncle and Mom that had done that. It had always surprised him. It still did. 

“It’s fine. We can talk about that later. We’ve gotta make sure our pitch to the Earth King is _spotless_.” Sokka declared, and it was all planning from there. 

Things didn’t go according to the plan. 

They landed in front of the palace, where there were plenty of people lined up and a large platform of freshly turned dirt that had obviously been pushed up recently. 

There was polite applause. 

Zuko didn’t trust any of this, eyeing the line of men in heavy black uniforms and broad rimmed hats. 

A woman stepped forward to greet them as they all stepped off the platform, and it sunk into the ground, leaving Zuko’s stomach where it landed. 

“Welcome to Ba Sing Se! I am Joo Dee. I’m honored to be showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se!” She had a perfect and wide smile, makeup done with the precision of a Kyoshi Warrior. Her posture and steps were rigid. She skeeved Zuko out, bad.

“That’s great, Joo Dee, and it’s very nice to meet you, but we _really really_ need to speak to the Earth King. It’s of the utmost importance.” Aang smiled politely and began walking past her. 

“Surely it can wait for a free tour!” Joo Dee placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent him walking past, still grinning with all her teeth. 

“It- It really can’t.” He frowned, looking a little concerned. 

“We have a limited time window.” Zuko spoke up. 

“Surely it can wait for a free tour!” She repeated. 

“There’s something off,” Toph muttered, tugging on Zuko’s sleeve. 

“Yeah.” He agreed quietly. 

“Her heartbeat is super slow,” She hissed. “I don’t know what her deal is.” 

“Her eyes look a little glazed over,” He added, staring across at those. 

“Why. . . don’t we take the tour?” Katara asked, uneasily, stepping forward. 

“Wonderful! Please follow me!” Joo Dee smiled (as she always did), and took perfectly measured steps to a carriage that was already waiting. 

“Joo Dee, if we’re taking a carriage, I need a place Appa can stay while we’re out. He gets nervous in public places.” Aang called after her. She hesitated. 

A man in a set of dark robes exited the palace.

“It’s all right Joo Dee.” He rose a hand from behind his back, and something about him made Zuko’s skin crawl. Was it the facial hair? . . . No, that wasn’t it. He puzzled with that as the man stopped in front of Aang. “Hello, Avatar Aang. Truly, it’s a pleasure to have you in Ba Sing Se.”

“Oh! Hi!” Aang offered a bow and the man didn’t really return it. This also didn’t really sit well with Zuko, but he could explain that. 

It was a common respect thing to bow to others you respected. Aang bowed to most people if the meeting was pleasant enough. Of course, he’d not bowed to Zuko, since their meeting was. . . not optimal? Anyways. Aang, though a kid, was the Avatar. THE, once-in-a-generation, all-powerful, balancing-restoring Avatar. 

Aang was sorta, you know. . . a big deal? And very important? 

And somehow, this guy thought he was, what, above that? 

Yeah, Zuko didn’t like him. 

“I am Long Feng. I understand that you wish to see the Earth King?” He asked, an oily sort of smile on his face. 

Zuko didn’t know how a smile could be oily, but this Long Feng dude was pulling it off. 

“Yeah,” Sokka walked over, draping a protective arm over Aang (Zuko approved of the inherent dislike of Long Feng that Sokka shared with him). “And it’s really urgent, so we need to talk to him like, yesterday.” 

“The earth king is very busy.” Long Feng began.

“Yeah, but we have the key to ending the wa-” 

“We’ll file a request. It might get fast tracked since you’re such esteemed guests.” Long Feng steamrolled Sokka. “I am also incredibly busy, so if you need anything, just ask Joo Dee. She’ll show you to a place to stay in the upper ring while we wait for the request to go through, and somewhere your sky bison to stay as well. Joo Dee, I believe they can walk from here.” 

“Yes, sir.” The woman- who quite startled Zuko, for he’d forgotten she was there, so still and silent was she standing- began striding away. “Follow me! I will show you all somewhere to stay in the upper ring!” 

Her strides were easy for Zuko to pace with, and he kept a handful of steps behind her. Aang spoke with Appa quickly, said goodbye to Long Feng, and half-jogged, half-airbent to catch up with the group.

Behind them, Appa took off, slowly climbing into the air above them. 

“Where’s he headed?” Katara asked, turning her head to look at Aang, who’d chosen to walk next to her. 

“He’s just gonna follow us and land where he can.” Aang explained. 

“There will be ample room near the guest quarters we will be settling you all in! In the Upper Ring, most estates come is a great expanse of lovingly tended grounds, surrounding a top-tier, already-decorated home with plenty of space, even for all of you!” Joo Dee chimed. 

“She sounds like she’s trying to sell something,” Mai grumbled, probably not even aware Zuko was listening. 

“Yeah.” Zuko agreed, sharing a brief glance with Mai, a briefer smile, before Mai looked away quickly.

“Sounds wonderful, Joo Dee, but we _really_ won’t be staying here for that lo-” Katara tried to placate the woman, who continued her speech over her. 

Zuko tuned it out. He really, really didn’t feel like hearing any more sales pitches about the city. 

They were led up to a large villa, circular doors and gorgeous wood, green grass and painstakingly maintained shrubs all around the building. Zuko shuddered to think about how long somebody’s had to sit there just trimming. 

He wondered if that counted as “progress” to his moral character or what. 

But either way it sounded pointless and boring. It was a bush. 

“You can all make yourselves at home here, and call on me if you need anything.” Joo Dee swept an arm at a perfect angle to indicate the villa. 

“Great. We. Need. To. See. The. Earth. King.” Sokka enunciated, and Katara smacked him in the arm. Joo Dee laughed politely.

“Your request has been filed, but it will take time to go through! Rest assured, the Earth King values your time and patience, but he is very busy!” 

“. . . Right, well, I’m sure he’ll make time.” Aang grinned in a way that seemed somehow disingenuous and pushed a steaming Sokka to the side. “Why don’t we explore inside? I think we should explore inside.” 

“Hey, Aang, we should call Appa down first.” 

“Oh! Oh yeah!” Aang tugged the bison whistle out and called Appa, who landed on the front lawn with a comical thumping sound. 

And so, Zuko supposed there was little to but wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh also I came back and we're almost at 1000 subs on this fic. WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHY ARE YOU HERE?!?  
> And also also, I started a gay little twitch channel. RIght now I'm playing a little hades and streaming a little art, it's nothing fancy, my mic isn't great, my connection isn't always perfect, but hey! I'm there, at least every other week I am. Check out Jeremiahthefroge on twitch for a little more of Jeremiah the writer (who might also be a frog? who knows!)! I'll also gladly chitchat about fic stuff if you wanna ask. Have a wonderful day!


	36. Whoa, Crazy, What A Coincedence!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ba Sing Se doesn't sit well with almost anybody in the gAang, but it sits the worst Zuko and Toph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. Hi. Happy 2021. I feel bad for lying to y'all about finishing in 2020. have a short chapter now that I'm writing again.   
> I'll be honest. My hyperfixation on ATLA dropped like a fuckin' rock a long while ago. I picked up hlvrai, I picked up SPG, I've lately picked up dream smp (and i'm writing for that one- nothing posted yet, but. It probably will be.) so. I'm really sorry that I never drummed up the energy to write the finale of this. I'm going to try very hard not to leave this project behind again, but I won't promise you a thing.   
> Thanks for sticking around, if you're reading this.

“This place is super fancy.” Katara remarked, letting her bag fall a little off her shoulder. 

It was, indeed, super fancy. Zuko marked the beautiful workmanship in carving the wooden motifs, and the perfectly smooth circle archways, and the floors that didn’t even creak a little bit. The emerald green hues all around the room painted on so smooth that he couldn’t see the brush strokes, even when he got up fairly close. 

They’d ditched Joo Dee at the door, promising to call if they needed anything. Zuko would rather. . . not do that. Toph let them know in hushed tones that Joo Dee was still by the door, and almost everyone deemed it creepy. 

Rooms were claimed, conversations about idle things were had, and Zuko stayed out of most of it (after making sure not to get stuck with a bad room). He sat out on the back porch, looking around at rolling green and the vague shapes of the other houses out there. 

Toph came out, the screen door scraping against the wall as she moved it back and walked through to flop down next to him at the edge of the porch. 

“So.” She started.

“Hm.” He grunted, just to confirm he was listening. 

“We’re in Ba Sing Se.” 

“Yup.” 

“. . . And we’re locked up in a world of rules and bullshit.”

“Yup.” 

“Wanna sneak out and go look for your Uncle?”

Zuko blinked and turned to look at her. She was staring at nothing, as she usually was.

“. . . Yeah. Actually. I would like that a lot.” Zuko nodded, not that she could really see it. She punched his arm. 

“Good! I could use some old man advice.” She hopped up. “Let’s. . . not go around the front. I don’t feel like having a chaperone.” 

“Chaperone for what?” 

Zuko jumped. He hadn’t even heard the door open. He turned to see Mai, arms folded.

“Uh.” Toph paused. 

“My uncle’s somewhere in the city.” Zuko explained. “We’re going to find him.” 

There was an oppressive moment of awkward silence. 

“Yeah.” Toph added. 

“Ah. Cool. Uh. . . say hi? To him?” She trailed off. 

“Dooooo yoooou. . . wanna come?” Zuko asked awkwardly, pointing over his shoulder vaguely.

“Would it be alright?” She arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” 

And so they wandered out, purposefully looping behind a few houses to make sure they could avoid Joo Dee seeing them when they got back onto the main road. 

The whole city was pretty, Mai guessed. Earth kingdom architecture really was interesting, in the way it seemed to be unshakeable with thick foundations. 

That made sense. With a city that had kids that could move the earth, one must make very solid architecture. 

Either way, that didn’t change the fact that the people were useless. They’d been walking around for a half hour and hadn’t found Iroh. 

Now, it was a really big city. It was! But Mai was used to Azula charging in, reading the shopkeeper’s deepest insecurities, and getting some fucking answers. 

Toph was good at demanding, but reading them wasn’t really her thing, and Zuko was as useful at that as a sparkling komodocorn. He was a sulky mess, but. . . he was also a sulky teenager. Nobody’s afraid of a kid pouting because life’s got him down. 

“Let’s just. . . stop somewhere for a while and people watch.” Toph recommended eventually. “They say if you sit down in a city for long enough, you’ll see everyone that city has to offer.”

“That could take hours. I’d rather find my uncle now.” Zuko protested. 

The royal family must have a workaholic stubborn streak in them. 

“And I’m hungry. What’s the worst that happens, Zuko, we get something to eat and go find the old man again?” 

Mai didn’t laugh, but she could have. 

“Fine.” Zuko growled, and began stalking towards the nearest establishment that sold food. Mai followed, of course. She wouldn’t dream of objecting to a break. 

“Oh, of course.” A man’s voice, tinged with the islander accent Mai knew all too well

Mai glanced at Zuko, but didn’t say a word. She knew he heard it too. 

“Come on.” He snapped, and stormed in. 

Mai sucked a breath in between her teeth and stepped in after him, Toph close at her heels. 

“UNCLE?!” 

Oh, of course.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Thanks for reading- this is actually my first AtLA fic, I only just finished watching it for the very first time about a week or so ago (We bought the box set and then netflix announced they were gonna start carrying it again smh). If you think something's out of character consider: Keeping your mouth shut! No criticisms unless you venmo me 200 dollars if not be nice or shut the fuck up buddy I don't have to explain to you how shitty it is to leave unsolicited criticisms on FAN FICTION OF ALL PLACES buddy I'm writing this FOR F R E E


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